Bollywood capital

Starwood Capital head Barry Sternlicht is reportedly gearing up to spend more than $500 million (€390 million) in India over the next three years, according to a recent interview in Mumbai.

“We are very excited about investing in India, but it's going to be the tortoise rather than the hare,” Sternlicht told Reuters in November. “It is going to be slow.” He added that his firm was close to investing $50 million in a residential project in a secondary city.

Sternlicht also indicated Starwood would take a counterintuitive approach to the country. The firm would begin by focusing on smaller cities, eventually moving into larger centers. He also said Starwood would potentially make investments in Indian property companies that are looking to expand their hospitality operations overseas.

“I think there is another opportunity for us, which we haven't talked much about, which is to help Indian companies that want to go overseas and expand,” he told the wire service.

“I think there is another opportunity for us, which we haven't talked much about, which is to help Indian companies that want to go overseas and expand,” he told the wire service.

It might have been one of the first times Sternlicht has publicly quantified his firm's interest in India, but he has often said he felt the country has plenty of potential. At a recent conference hosted by PERE in New York, Sternlicht said that Starwood saw India as a development play— and one that was attractive for hotel investment.

He added that India was benefiting from increased investor interest across the emerging markets of Asia, which has forced the government to change its restriction on foreign investment. “The best thing to happen to India was China,” he told the delegates.

Sternlicht also provided plenty of anecdotal evidence about the challenges facing investors India, including issue like bureaucracy, lack of infrastructure and corruption.

Starwood's entry into India comes as interest in the country continues to grow. Launched last year, a joint venture between New York-based property firm Tishman Speyer and ICICI Ventures, a real estate investment subsidiary of Indian bank ICICI, has reportedly already invested more than $1 billion in the Indian property sector. Meanwhile Xander Real Estate Partners could be close to making the largest foreign property investment so far on the subcontinent, a $120 million minority investment in the Bandra Kurla mixed-use complex outside of Mumbai.