Mumbai, Sept. 2 -- Welspun One, the warehousing arm of Welspun Group, is expanding beyond logistics into data centres and residential real estate while launching new alternative investment funds (AIFs) and exploring mixed use developments, according to Saurabh Gupta, chief executive officer for fund management. The platform will continue to assess opportunities to raise additional capital as it scales its logistics and industrial real estate business. New fund structures may be tailored to support these moves and to broaden the platform's investment mandate.

The firm has completed liquidation of its Fund one and has executed two exits while initiating the divestment process for four remaining assets totalling four point nine million (mn) sq ft, which management expects to conclude in the coming quarters. Fund two is in a growth phase with nearly Rs 2,000 crore invested across nine Grade A assets, a sum equivalent to Rs 20 billion (bn), and the focus remains on scaling the fund and expanding the investment pipeline.

The company is developing one million (mn) sq ft under WTC Thane, a licensed World Trade Centre brand, and has allocated Rs 1,000 crore near Mumbai for a Grade A office, retail and distribution centre scheme, equivalent to Rs 10 bn. It is also progressing WTC Nhava Sheva at JNPA SEZ, a port based World Trade Centre spread across 55 acres with development potential of around four point four five million (mn) sq ft and a planned investment outlay of Rs 2,700 crore, or Rs 27 bn.

Management said it will evaluate similar opportunities across Mumbai and other high density consumption markets and is targeting vertically integrated ecosystems that combine logistics, commercial infrastructure and consumer facing spaces within an efficient integrated model. The strategy is to pursue timely exits as assets mature while tailoring new fund launches to support expansion into data centres and residential projects and to seek to maximise value for investors.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.