Ascendas-Singbridge Names Vinamra Srivastava CEO of India Operations

Ascendas-Singbridge has named Vinamra Srivastava as Chief Executive Officer for its India Operations and Private Funds, effective April 1, as the Singaporean business park builder gears up for a new chapter of growth in India’s property sector.

Srivastava joined the firm in October 2015 and currently heads up Group Corporate Strategy & Development. He will be based in Bangalore, the headquarters for the company’s India operations.

The executive succeeds Sanjay Dutt, who has helmed the firm’s India operations since July 2016. Contacted by Mingtiandi, Dutt said he was unable to comment immediately regarding his future plans.

Management Consulting Pro To Take Helm in India

In the new role, Srivastava will oversee the company’s operations, business development, and strategic planning in India, as well as expanding the developer’s portfolio of assets in the country, which currently totals over 13 million square feet with a value of around S$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion).

Srivastava “has played a key leadership role to develop the India strategy for Ascendas-Singbridge and ensure consistent strategy execution across investment, development, operations and asset management,” commented Miguel Ko, the company’s group CEO in a statement. “With his cross border consultancy experience and deep knowledge of Ascendas-Singbridge’s strategy, we are confident that he will lead Ascendas-Singbridge’s India operations and private funds to its next phase of growth.”

Srivastava’s achievements include helping Ascendas-Singbridge to enter India’s logistics and industrial sector last year by setting up the Ascendas-Firstspace platform, a joint venture with Bangalore-based Firstspace Realty.

The executive, who has a defence background and an MBA from the Institute of Management Ahmedabad, has worked in a variety of consulting roles, including serving as Principal at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Singapore for four years. The management consulting expert has also held senior positions at Cisco Systems and Arthur D Little.

Dutt Said Joining Tata Property Arm

Departing CEO Dutt had served as managing director for India at property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield before joining Ascendas-Singbridge in 2016. Local media reports indicate that Dutt may be joining Tata Housing Development Company, the property development arm of India’s Tata Group, as managing director and chief executive.

Ascendas-Singbridge, which has total assets under management of over S$20 billion ($15 billion), is jointly owned by Singapore’s state-backed Temasek Holdings and JTC Corporation. The company and its predecessor firm Ascendas have been operating in India for over two decades, and has built a portfolio that includes tech parks in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Pune. Ascendas-Singbridge is also developing an integrated industrial township in Chennai.

The company launched its first India-focussed fund, Ascendas India IT parks in 2005, and followed that up with the Ascendas India Development Trust in 2007. Ascendas, which merged with Singbridge in 2015 and 2016, launched the Ascendas India Growth Programme in 2013 with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC as a principal investor.