Donald Trump is looking to invest in India’s hospitality industry after lending his name to luxury residential projects as the real estate mogul diversifies his businesses outside the United States.
“India is a great place to invest, especially after the elections,” Mr Trump, 68, who has licensing tie-ups with Pune-based Panchsil Realty and Lodha Developers, said during a press conference in Mumbai today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party secured India’s first single-party parliamentary majority in 30 years after general elections over April and May. He pledged 1.48 trillion rupees (Dh88.55bn) last month to unclog transport links, spur power output and build cities, while also loosening restrictions on foreign investment.
Home prices in Mumbai, the nation's financial capital, have more than doubled in the five years through March, according to data from Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research. The government on August 10 approved the setting up and listing of property investment trusts in an attempt to lure investors and unlock a $20 billion market.
Lodha Developers, which is looking to raise as much as $1 billion through a public offering, said in September that it was building the Trump Tower Mumbai in its The Park project in Worli as part of a 17.5 acre master-planned neighborhood. The three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments will come with German Poggenpohl kitchens and indoor jacuzzi tubs. Lodha has roped in Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai as brand ambassador for the project.
Mr Trump, who is chairman of the Trump Organization and founder of the Trump Entertainment Resorts, has also licensed his name with Panchil Realty to build twin, 22-storey Trump towers in Pune, a city southeast of Mumbai, by 2015.
Trump Towers Rio, the 5 billion-real (Dh8bn) office project in downtown Rio de Janeiro, is another such project where the brand was licensed for the development without Trump providing funding. The builder also has plans for an 18-hole golf course and 104 mansions in Dubai where he is making an investment in the project, expected to be complete in 2017, besides lending his name for a fee.
Earlier this month, he sued two Atlantic City casinos that he no longer operates to force their owner either to improve “appalling” conditions or remove his name as he moves to protect his brand.
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