Gone are the days when Indian real estate investors were confined within the boundaries of their own country. The flight of their dreams is no longer restricted to their territorial borders. Now their wings have spread far and wide, covering the entire globe. On the one hand, private equity and foreign funds are pouring into India, whereas on the other, affluent Indians are liberally investing in foreign lands. Growing purchasing power of the rupee, nuclear families, both spouses earning and huge multinationals coming in with bulky pay packages- all these factors are creating a cadre of rich Indians for whom, buying a home abroad is no longer a dream. Adding to this, the blown up property prices in India, speedy foreign deals accompanied by affordable prices further act as catalysts in taking these well-to-do Indians, places.

Indian real estate investors are showing interest in many areas in the world which include South East Asia, especially Malaysia and Singapore, Dubai and cities such as London and New York. In South East Asia property investments are rising due to the increased popularity of these countries as they are tourist destinations for the Indians. Singapore is only 1,500 miles away from cities such as Bangalore and the cities like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta are connected and served by Air India. On comparing the property prices in South East Asia and the Gulf with Mumbai and Delhi we find that India is costlier as compared to them. In addition to this these foreign countries offer superior infrastructure, environment and facilities.

London and Dubai are some of the major destinations targeted by the Indian investors for investment.

Companies investing abroad

Globalization which is a much abused term these days means Indian companies entering into joint ventures with foreign companies. It also means exporting goods and services to foreign countries. The core issue in the definition of globalization is that the companies have to go global to advertise themselves. In the present set up it can be noticed that there are already several players in the global market but Indian companies are still lagging behind. The reasons for this are manifold. Firstly, the Government has not encouraged Indian companies to step into the global market. Secondly, the Indian real estate companies are caught up with the domestic work. And finally, some of the companies who tried to invest abroad were at a loss due to lack of guidance, support and knowledge.

But now the Indian government seems to have realized the fact that investing abroad is necessary for a company's extension and escalation. This is the reason it has allowed companies to freely invest up to $ 15 million without taking any permission from RBI. In addition to this fast track clearances of $ 4 million are given for investments abroad.

According to the Liberalized Overseas Investment Guidelines, companies have also been given permission to invest a maximum of 50 per cent of GDR’s abroad.

Guidelines for investors

As we can see that India is gradually turning towards becoming an investment hub in real estate, the Indians who are keen on investing abroad should weigh their returns and compare them with India first. Ideally an Indian should buy property abroad only if the returns are much higher as compared to those in India.