An India-centric real estate fund by Cordea Nichani, a joint venture between British property fund manager Cordea Savills and India’s Nichani Holdings, has been launched in Oman to tap into the Gulf nation’s market.“The fund has been launched to tap into the Oman market and also give investment opportunities to the large NRI (non-resident Indian) community here,” India’s Ambassador to Oman Anil Wadhwa, who launched the fund at the third meeting of the India-Oman Business Forum over the weekend, revealed from Muscat. There are around 500,000 expatriate Indians in Oman. “Besides, Omani businesses are also very keen to invest in India’s infrastructure sector,” he added. Called ‘Cordea-Nichani Indian Opportunities No 1′, the fund is primarily intended to be invested in an information technology-focussed special economic zone (SEZ) near Bangalore and a few prestigious real estate projects in south India. Cordea Nichani is looking to raise around $30-40 mn from Omani institutional investors as well as big corporate houses and government pension funds, according to a statement issued by the Indian embassy in Oman. The joint venture expects to secure returns in the range of 25 per cent on investments over a six-year timeframe.

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