Al Fara'a to launch projects in India

Al Fara'a Properties plans to launch three high-end properties worth more than Dh1.5 billion in India in the next six months – the company's first venture outside the UAE.

Director Natasha Gangaramani said one project was a beachfront building while the other two were commercial properties. The buildings, currently under construction in Mumbai, will feature an auditorium, a driver's waiting room and business centres.

"The kind of properties that we will launch will match the type of commercial buildings that are in Dubai today," Natasha told Emirates Business. "Two of the projects will cost Dh1.5bn. We cannot say what the third one will cost but it is a huge project.

"Our Indian venture has not been formally announced by Al Fara'a but we will launch it in the next six months when about 80 per cent of the construction is done. India is a very different market from the UAE as here we do a lot of off-plan sales. In India we have chosen to have start-up buildings before going to sales and marketing.

Shalini Gangaramani, Group Director of construction and contracting conglomerate Al Fara'a Group, said the property division would remain focused on the UAE market.

"We have just entered India so we're taking it a little slower," Shalini said. "We want to make sure that we understand the market because the dynamics of working in India are different from here. At the moment we still have our hands full in the UAE."

The value of the group's project is expected to reach Dh13 billion by the end of this year. "Bilateral relations between India and the UAE are strong," said Shalini. "In addition India is a booming country, it's growing at a fast pace. Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Properties are already there. But we want to take to India the quality and technology we have seen here that some Indian developers have not yet seen."

The UAE's property giants, buoyed by surplus liquidity, have been vying to secure a bigger stake in India. Several Dubai-based companies have invested billions of dollars in real estate and infrastructure projects in India and are keen to expand further in one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

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