Fire Capital plans $100m spree across India

Indian real estate fund Fire Capital Fund is planning to invest $100 million across the country’s tier II cities by the end of next year.

In an interview with India’s Financial Chronicle, Om Chaudhry, chief executive officer at the Mauritius-registered fund, said the vehicle would invest in high-end residential projects in the north, east and south of the country.

“The fundamentals of the sector are still solid,” he told the newspaper, “Demand is still there. The problem was with faulty pricing. We will be investing in projects with the correct price point. The idea is to bring luxury units such as villas within the reach of the middle class.”

To date, Fire Capital has invested in urban areas such as Nagpur, Bangalore and Chennai. It has typically invested in lot sizes of a minimum of $5 million and in schemes of more than 25 acres or 500,000 square feet.

The fund was established in 2004 to take “activist” equity positions in development projects in India. In additional to residential investments, it invests in commercial, retail, hospitality, logistics and infrastructure projects as part of a wider “satellite urban village” theme.