Bharti Realty to build 17mn sft of office, retail space in Delhi's Aerocity to tap rising demand

New Delhi: Bharti Realty, the real estate arm of Bharti Enterprises, is planning to develop a large business district near Delhi's airport comprising 17 million square feet of commercial area to tap a surge in demand for premium office and retail spaces, a top company official said. Bharti Realty has developed over 5 million square feet of Grade-A commercial real estate with a diversified product mix of commercial, retail and lifestyle. In Delhi's Aerocity, the company has already completed a commercial project 'Worldmark' with a total leasable area of around 1.3 million sft. In 2023, it monetised the completed and operational commercial space by selling 51 per cent stake to global investment firm Brookfield. "We are expanding our flagship Worldmark project in Aerocity. We will be developing an additional 17 million sft of commercial space in phases," Bharti Realty MD and CEO S K Sayal said.

This additional 17 million square feet area is being developed by Bharti Realty and not in joint venture with Brookfield, he said. To begin with, Sayal said the company has started construction of 6.5 million sft of commercial space, of which 3.5 million sft would be Grade-A office space and 3 million sft retail area. The construction works have been awarded to many companies. He said the planning for the remaining 10.5 million sft area is also underway. "We want this commercial project to be in the list of global business districts," he said, while outlining the vision. Sayal did not disclose the estimated investment on development of this 17 million sft of commercial space. He said the pre-leasing of commercial spaces would start later this year after achieving significant construction milestone. "We expect to have a healthy upside in rental yield, with average office rentals in the operational part of Worldmark project already exceeding Rs 225 per sft," he said while talking about revenue potential.

Sayal noted that the development of this large commercial project would address the shortage of premium office space in the national capital. The demand for quality office and retail spaces has been strong in the last two years across major cities, he said, adding that the trend would only strengthen because of healthy growth in the Indian economy. Bharti Realty has bagged this project from Delhi International Airport Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure.

The company has been developing real estate projects mainly in Delhi-NCR and Punjab. In April 2022, Brookfield had agreed to buy 51 per cent stake in Bharti Enterprises' four commercial properties, including Worldmark (I, II and III) at Aerocity in the national capital, at an enterprise value of Rs5,000 crore. The deal between Bharti Enterprises and Brookfield Asset Management was closed in May last year. The joint venture agreement was for a 3.3 million sft portfolio of commercial properties primarily in Delhi-NCR. The four properties include completed 1.3 million square feet area in Worldmark Aerocity (Delhi); Worldmark 65 and Airtel Center in Gurugram; and Pavillion Mall in Ludhiana. Bharti Enterprises retained the ownership of future development in this Worldmark project. Bharti Group has presence in telecom, real estate, insurance, hospitality and food businesses.