The Chennai-based NDR Group is stepping up investments in warehousing and industrial infrastructure, with projects worth over ₹2,000 crore under development in the next couple of years, as it looks to capitalise on growing demand from manufacturing, e-commerce and logistics sectors.
The group currently has around 7 million sq ft under active construction across warehousing and industrial parks through its development arm, NDR Smart Spaces. These form part of a larger 13 million sq ft land and development pipeline being built for eventual transfer to the group’s infrastructure investment trust (NDR InvIT Trust), N. Amrutesh Reddy, MD, NDR Warehousing Pvt Ltd, told businessline.
NDR InvIT Trust is the first perpetual warehousing and industrial Parks InvIT in India. It has an Assets Under Management (AUM) of 22.17 million sq ft (msf) across warehouses and industrial parks located at 17 cities in India.
Reddy said the warehouses were leased out to 100+ tenants like DHL, FedEx, Havells, Apollo Tyres, Amazon, Maersk, and Lenovo, under long-term contracts with a fixed payment stream. In FY26, the rental income increased by 30 per cent to ₹420 crore over ₹324 crore in the previous fiscal.
Reddy said that the company is also expanding its geographical footprint beyond established industrial hubs. While it already has a presence in locations such as Coimbatore, Hosur and Pune, it is entering newer markets like Varanasi, where rising consumption and e-commerce activity are driving demand for modern warehousing facilities.
Industrial parks – where NDR gives on rent the entire space to a single company – are emerging as a growing segment for the group. Out of its total portfolio of about 22 million sq ft, nearly 2 million sq ft is devoted to industrial assets. Occupiers include manufacturing, engineering and pharmaceutical companies.
IFC investment
To fund its expansion plans, NDR Smart Spaces is set to receive a $50-million investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Due diligence is going on and the transaction is expected to be completed in a month, Reddy said.
Besides warehousing and industrial parks, the group is exploring opportunities in cold storage, rooftop solar projects and social infrastructure assets such as schools, hospitals and hospitality facilities. The strategy is to develop and own the underlying real estate while allowing specialised operators to run the facilities.
However, land acquisition remains a key challenge and rising land prices is increasing development cost, the executive said.