HDFC’s real estate trust for corporates, MNCs

HDFC is planning to set up a separate company to acquire and lease commercial real estate properties to corporates and multinationals. HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said that multinationals (MNCs) prefer leasing office space, while developers are interested in selling properties.

The new company would operate as a real estate trust, Parekh told reporters on the sidelines of a real estate seminar. He added that there was tremendous scope in this business and hence HDFC was working on setting up a separate entity with a 49 per cent stake. On the decision to form a separate company, he said: ‘‘There is a limit of how much non-banking assets should a bank hold and hence it makes sense to set up a separate entity for the new business opportunity.’’