CapitaLand India Trust Kicks Off $54M Hyderabad IT Park Redevelopment

Singapore’s CapitaLand India Trust is set to commence the second phase of redevelopment of a tech park in the capital of Telangana state at an estimated investment of INR 4.5 billion ($52 million).

Phase two of the redevelopment of International Tech Park Hyderabad, which will yield 1 million square feet (92,900 square metres) of space upon its expected completion in 2028, follows the September 2023 unveiling of a 1.4 million square foot office building which constituted the first stage of the programme.

“This development is strategically designed to address the increasing demand from Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and other prominent blue-chip companies seeking state-of-the-art facilities in Hyderabad, further solidifying the city’s position as a leading business hub,” CLINT’s sponsor, CapitaLand Investment told Mingtiandi in a statement.

The commencement of the second stage of redevelopment follows through on a plan CapitaLand introduced when the first phase of the office project was launched two years ago, seeking to nearly double the park’s leasable area to 4.9 million square feet. The project, which CapitaLand predicted at the time would be completed in phases over seven to 10 years, also includes a 40-megawatt data centre.

Hyderabad’s Horizon

CapitaLand has been increasing its bets on Hyderabad – a metropolitan area which hosts over 1,500 IT companies – as it takes aim at India’s growing office market.

The redevelopment announcement on Monday came eight months after CapitaLand India Trust inked a forward purchase agreement with its long-time partner Phoenix Group for the development and acquisition of 2.5 million square feet (232,260 square metres) of office properties in the city.

Based on the trust’s most recent financials, Hyderabad contributed 28 percent of the REIT’s base rental income in the third quarter of 2024, surpassing Bangalore to become the trust’s largest market.

As of 2024, CapitaLand India Trust owns and manages three IT parks in Hyderabad – International Tech Park Hyderabad, CyberPearl, and aVance – spanning a total leasable area of around 5.13 million square feet. Its tenants include Amazon, AT&T, Bristol Meyers Squib, EY, London Stock Exchange, Optum, VXI and Warner Bros Discovery.

In December last year, Colliers reported that office leasing activity across India’s top six cities hit a record high for the third consecutive year, reaching 66.4 million square feet in 2024, a 14 percent increase from its year ago levels. Activity peaked in the last three months of the year, with Hyderabad and Bengaluru leading the increase as the two cities together accounted for 54 percent of India’s leasing during the fourth quarter.

Eyes on India

The redevelopment comes after CapitaLand Investment in September 2024 announced a plan to more than double its S$7.4 billion ($5.4 billion) in funds under management (FUM) in India by 2028, with a focus on expanding its core businesses of IT parks, logistics, and data centres in the country.

On top of its proposed Hyderabad property acquisition from Phoenix Group, CapitaLand India Trust in March last year, acquired the first phase of a 1.4 million square foot office project in Pune for S$124.64 million. Four months later, the trust completed the S$108.99 million acquisition of an office building in Navi Mumbai.

With India’s economy expected to grow 7.2 percent this year, CapitaLand aims to expand its presence in the country with a focus on IT parks, logistics, data centres, and lodging. The group is also exploring diversification into renewables and real estate private credit in the country.

“We are generally positive on CapitaLand’s broader strategy to rebalance its portfolio exposures geographically. India currently only makes up about 7 percent of its FUM and CapitaLand plans to double that to 10 to 15 percent of its 2028 FUM,” I believe their focus for India right now is on data centres, logistics and private credit, which are asset classes that enjoy a lot of secular tailwinds currently,” Morningstar Investment Adviser equity analyst Xavier Lee told Mingtiandi.