Building More Than Assets

By: Arshdeep Sethi, President, RMZ Real Estate 

Commercial real estate is entering a phase where the question is whether an asset can deliver the same standard years from now. That confidence comes from how an organisation builds, holds and operates its assets.

Commercial real estate in India is entering a phase, where one occupier question needs to be addressed more than ever: Will the asset I signed up for continue to operate at the same standard, ten years and two economic cycles from now? This question is not answered in leasing brochures or headline square footage. The answer lies in how an organisation builds, holds and operates its assets when no one is watching, and whether its balance sheet and governance can support the weight of this long-term commitment.

Reportedly, commercial real estate in India recorded USD 8.5 billion in equity capital inflows in the first half of 2026, a 32 per cent year-on-year increase and the highest half-yearly figure on record. Capital inflows from institutional investors rose 51 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q2. That is not just a data point. It is a signal of where the global capital believes Indian cities and the platforms operating therein, are headed.

We see this as a structural shift rather than a cyclical one. Demand from global capability centers, financial institutions and technology occupiers is increasingly shaped by the need for continuity, compliance and operational discipline over the life of a lease, not simply at the point of signing. India’s office market recorded its strongest quarter ever in Q2 2026, with gross leasing of 24.6 million square feet and global capability centers alone taking up a record 10.3 million square feet. This is the opportunity we are building for, and we are bullish about it.

RMZ has never treated commercial real estate as an asset to develop and move on from. Every building in our portfolio is designed to be held, managed and reinvested in over decades. This long-term orientation shapes our underwriting, our tenant relationships and our commitment to world-class design and execution across every development.

It also allows us to open that quality up to a wider set of owners. Through Signature Offices, we are making premium office stock available for direct ownership across growth corridors; as whole buildings or demarcated units, for family offices and institutions that want core income without the operating burden. RMZ continues to manage these assets end to end, because the standard at which a building is run is precisely what makes it worth owning.

This is what the move from projects to platforms really means. A project is delivered and handed over; a platform is capitalised, governed and operated, and is judged on its record across cycles rather than on any single completion.

It is also why we see ourselves not simply as a developer, but as a value creator: for the occupiers who anchor with us, the institutions that co-invest with us, and the cities we help shape. That discipline is reflected in the continued confidence of our occupier base; many of whom have chosen to expand with us rather than simply renew.

Our digital infrastructure business extends this same rigour into a new asset class. India’s data center capacity is projected to grow from 1.6 GW in 2026 to 6 GW by 2029, requiring an estimated USD 110 billion of capital. Meeting this demand will take institutional-grade operating standards, not construction capability alone, and that is the standard we are to the data centers and connectivity infrastructure that India’s compute economy will depend on.

As the sector scales, we are confident that RMZ is well positioned to contribute meaningfully to this growth by continuing to build a transparent, well-governed platform that global capital allocators choose to back for the long term, not just the next cycle.

I look forward to sharing that journey with you through this newsletter.

Arshdeep Sethi

President, RMZ Real Estate