UK-based private equity investor Actis and Mahindra Lifespace Developers, a part of the Mahindra Group, announced on Monday that they are formally launching a joint venture for industrial and logistics properties named Ample Parks. The JV acquired a prime 70-acre industrial land parcel within Mahindra World City, Chennai, to develop an integrated industrial and logistics park with institutional-grade buildings. The land has a development potential of 2 million sqft and a capital outlay of ₹800 crore.

Talking to the Financial Express, Akash Rastogi, who has been appointed as the CEO of the platform, said: “The JV company will develop 15 million to 17 million square feet of industrial parks over the next five to seven years in tier I and tier II cities with a capital outlay of $600 million.”

Actis and Mahindra set up the JV in 2022 to develop and acquire industrial and logistics real estate. Actis holds a majority stake in the joint venture, while Mahindra Lifespaces owns a significant minority stake. This is the first such major announcement after the Union Budget announced support for industrial parks.

Ample Parks will benefit from Actis’s extensive global network and real estate expertise, as well as Mahindra Lifespaces’ access to prime land parcels and relationships with key stakeholders in the Indian market, the JV said in a release.

Typically, the capital for projects will have a 60:40 debt-to-equity ratio, though this may change depending on the project, Rastogi said. He stated that the company would consider both outright acquisition of land and joint developments with landowners.

“The budget has given an impetus for industrial parks and the measures will improve the demand for such properties,” said Raghvendra Chandak, director, real estate at Actis.

The overall requirement for the Grade A/B industrial and warehousing space will double so the existing stock for Grade  A/B will need to be doubled to meet this demand over the next 7 years, Chandak said.

Brian Chinappi, partner, head of real estate at Actis, said:’ “India’s industrial and logistics sector represents a tremendous investment opportunity, with the country’s market strongly benefitting from a boom in consumer demand domestically and a realignment of supply chains globally in favour of India, with many corporations implementing a China Plus One strategy.”

By bringing to bear Actis’ track record in sustainable real estate and Mahindra Lifespaces’ broader market expertise, Ample Parks is set to become a key player in this space, capitalising on the growth of this new economy real estate for our investors, Chinappi said.

Amit Sinha, managing director and CEO at Mahindra Lifespaces, said: “This initiative fits well into the state-of-the-art facilities within an already established, self-contained ecosystem. We are excited about the potential of Ample Parks for not only building on the success of Mahindra World City, but also contributing significantly to India’s broader industrial and logistics landscape.”