INDIA’S TIER II & III CITIES ARE POTENTIAL GLOBAL TRADE HUBS

India has been one of the fastest growing commercial real estate markets in the world due to its strong economic growth, urbanization, infrastructure investment, global leadership in IT, BPO & GCC and the huge cost effective talent force. While the global office market has slowed down, we see sustainable ongoing growth momentum in India due to ongoing diversification of global supply chain, accelerated shift to higher-value-added service sectors and rapid city expansions. The last few years have seen the emergence of Tier-II & III cities as crucial cogs in India’s economic growth. Industries from manufacturing, BFSI, retail to consumer electronics and technology, all are making a beeline to Tier-II & III cities to tap into the huge potential that these cities offer. However, these cities face lagging urban infrastructure and services, lack of grade-A office supply, and other growth pains at the stage when an effective real estate ecosystem is under formation.

Which are the newest WTCA Members in India?
The upcoming World Trade Center (WTC) Nashik — located strategically on the Mumbai–Agra Highway near the Samruddhi Expressway — will offer over 9.21 lakh sq. ft. of built up space designed for global trade integrated into a world-class, digitally enabled ecosystem tailored for exporters, investors, and enterprises. The recently announced WTC Kozhikode — a landmark project with 12.5 million sq. ft. — will connect Kozhikode to global routes positioning the city as a major hub for business, trade, and education and will amplify Kozhikode’s growth by attracting multinational companies.

The Gateway by Welspun One, the upcoming WTC Nhava Shava project, is a signature mixed-use port-led infrastructure development that is going to create approximately 3.6 million sq. ft. of leasable area, which will encapsulate the foreign trade, export-oriented Industries and EXIM services.

How is WTC posting itself in the India
India is the second largest country network in the WTCA global family & has been one of a priority market in our “Road to 500” initiative — our goal to expand our current membership base to 500 over the next decade. We’ll further devote our resources and support to the country to reach our growth goal of 50 Members in the next 5-7 years. WTCA understands that the development of Tier-II & III cities are crucial to India’s further economic growth and inclusive development. To this end, a key part of our India strategy has been to serve as a catalyst to help these cities emerge as important economic hubs for India. As a matter of fact, the majority of our current?30+ Members are located in Tier-II & III cities, and we see this sector as the key for our future growth in India.

In addition to offices & commercial real estate, we have seen strong growth and momentum in industrial, logistics and educational real estate,?in?which we have expanded our presence and are optimistic for future development.