UAE fund manager Equitativa plans first India education REIT

UAE-based asset manager Equitativa, which manages the largest Shari'ah-compliant REIT in the world, Emirates REIT, is planning to make a foray into India by acquiring schools to launch the first real estate investment trust (REIT) in the education sector here.

"We continue to believe in the strategic importance of the education sector in the development of any country. India, given its demographics, has a huge potential in the education sector and we hope to enter this market by acquiring schools to launch our first REIT here," Equitativa Group chief investment officer Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi told PTI here.

Quoting a study, he said, nearly USD 50 billion is expected to be invested in the Indian education sector in the next 10 years, which the firm believes is a huge opportunity.

"We are already owning a few schools in Dubai and our experience is that the education sector has sparked the interest of many real estate investors. We have seen a similar interest in Indian as well as global investors for the sector here," said Al-Halabi.

He said the company has identified a few properties across the country, but refused to divulge further details.

Emirates REIT currently manages three schools - Jebel Ali School, British Columbia Canadian School and Gems World Academy.

Apart from the education sector, the company is also exploring opportunities in the logistics and warehousing real estate here.

"It is one of the biggest growth areas that has emerged in recent times especially after the implementation of various reforms as well as the rapid growth of e-commerce," said Al-Halabi.

When asked about the timeline to launch the education REIT, he said, "We are at the very initial stage of planning, but we believe its a matter of few months. There is immense interest from investors and we are confident we will get the same response in India as well."

The company has appointed Nitin Agarwal as the chief executive officer for the India market. Agarwal, with 18 years of experience in banking and real estate, has earlier worked with banks like HSBC and Citibank.

Equitativa is currently the largest REIT manager in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with about USD 2 billion of assets under management.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)