108 REAL ESTATE Expands into India
The demand among dozens of developer clients and investors from Europe is behind the expansion of our real estate consultancy firm, 108 REAL ESTATE, into India. The new office in the local metropolis of Delhi will provide comprehensive professional services for those attracted to entering the Indian real estate market. It's not just investors or developers from the Central and Eastern European region - we've decided to expand to the Asian continent based on the interest of clients from the USA, the United Kingdom, and countries in Western Europe. 108 REAL ESTATE operates in India thanks to the alliance with BNP Paribas Real Estate.
According to Branislav Jendek, Managing Partner of 108 REAL ESTATE in Slovakia, who prepared and leads the expansion into India, the conditions for this step are ideal. The Indian government constantly improves conditions for foreign investors, which has already been responded to by major global players like Panattoni, GLP, or Prologis.
"In India, we want to synergistically utilize our long-standing and quality relationships with these partners in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe," explains Branislav Jendek.
In the first phase, the Indian branch of 108 REAL ESTATE will focus primarily on consultancy in the construction and utilization of production facilities, warehouses, and offices. As Jakub Holec, Director of 108 REAL ESTATE, adds, the motivation for expanding into the Indian real estate environment includes favorable demographic development (the population is expected to reach 1.428 billion in 2023) and a growing economy - and thus purchasing power.
"At the same time, we want to create sufficiently comfortable conditions for our clients in the Indian market to withstand strong competition, especially from China," calculates Jakub Holec.
The Indian branch of 108 REAL ESTATE will focus mainly on the segment of industrial real estate. The priority will then be the largest cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Pune, which also attract an increasingly sophisticated manufacturing sector. This sector ultimately accounts for 24% of net industrial space leasing in 2023 - a total of 4,607 million square meters was leased. The logistics sector (3PL) leases the next largest volume of space, followed by the retail sector and FMCD/FMCG. The total supply of modern industrial space around major cities in India exceeds 38.3 million square meters. This is approximately three times more than in the Czech Republic with 10 million inhabitants and slightly more than the total supply of warehouse space in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary - 31 million square meters.
"The middle class in India is becoming increasingly affluent, which will drive demand for new, higher-quality products. Therefore, it will be necessary to provide facilities for production, storage, and shipping. The Indian government supports investors in establishing factories and invests huge amounts in infrastructure development," says Mayur Tomar, an Indian consultant for 108 REAL ESTATE, who, after graduating from Birmingham City University, gained professional experience, among others, at Colliers, Flipspaces, and Quikr in the United Kingdom.
In addition to comprehensive consultancy in the area of commercial industrial real estate, 108 REAL ESTATE INDIA plans to gradually expand its services to other segments, including land transactions or investments. The bilateral nature of the subsidiary is particularly evident in the investment area: according to Jakub Holec, the Indian team is already in contact with several potential companies and entrepreneurs planning to invest in Europe. They are interested not only in standard rental properties but also in entering existing companies or industrial infrastructure.
Given the size of India, where Delhi and Mumbai alone are separated by almost 1,500 kilometers, 108 REAL ESTATE will focus mainly on the market around the metropolis. Gradually, we will expand our activities to the mentioned metropolis of Mumbai, the eastern coast of India, or to the city and region of Pune, which has a strong tradition in the production of automobiles and components. This could be a very interesting potential for players from the European automotive environment.
The expansion of 108 REAL ESTATE into the Asian continent comes in its 15th year of operation. We continue to expand our network of offices within Europe and are also an alliance partner of BNP Paribas Real Estate.