MUMBAI: Brookfield Asset Management, the largest commercial real estate owner/operator in the country with assets over $12 billion, is investing a whopping $1 billion to build Asia’s largest global capability centre (GCC) in the tony Powai area of the megapolis.
The 2-million sqft campus will come up on a six–acre plot in Powai which is also the home of the famed IIT Bombay, and is set for 2029 completion. It is expected to create over 30,000 high-skilled jobs and will house a multinational bank's GCC for a 20-years lease, said the New York-based global alternative asset manager, which is the infrastructure arm of the Canadian investment major.
The proposed GCC is being developed through an agreement between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and a venture led by Brookfield along with its partner BS Sharma.
Maharashtra had earlier this year announced a GCC policy that’s valid till 2029-30. That policy aims at attracting 400 GCCs, creating over 4,00,000 jobs and getting incremental investment worth Rs 50,600 crore by offering incentives like land, capital subsidies, and reimbursements.
Brookfield said the development reflects the strong confidence global businesses have in Maharashtra and Mumbai’s pro-investment environment, supported by the state’s focus on infrastructure, ease of doing business, and talent development.
The project will be built to market-leading sustainability standards with a commitment to source 100% green power. “It will further strengthen the megapolis’ position as a premier hub for GCCs,” the firm added.
Last year Brookfield had commissioned a similar build-to-suit tower in Pune for the GCC of a large financial services company. In Mumbai, Brookfield owns real-estate projects worth of over $4 billion.
Brookfield is one of the largest office owners/operators in the country with around 55 million sq. ft. across seven cities, including 29.1 million sq. ft. of a grade-A portfolio with Brookfield India Reit (real estate investment trust, which was also the first Reit to go public with an IPO).
The company had in May this year announced plans to treble its investment to $100 billion within five years in the country, having already pumped in $12 billion in infrastructure assets like gas pipelines, telecom towers, and data centres; $12 billion in real estate including offices and hotels; and $3 billion in clean-energy projects.
Earlier this year, the company signed an agreement with the MMRDA to bring in $12 billion investment in the Mumbai region. Following this in June, it acquired a 2.1-acre land parcel in the tony BKC area to create a grade-A mixed-use property.
Ankur Gupta, head of Asia Pacific and Middle East for real estate at Brookfield, said, the scale of this project validates Maharashtra’s leadership position as a GCC hub for large multinational companies.
According to property consultancy firm Anarock, the average office rent in Powai hovers at Rs 110-180 per sq. ft. a month. Additionally, over the past few years, GCCs have been driving office demand across the country.
According to Savills India, GCCs leased 112 m sq. ft. of office space between 2020 and 2024, with Mumbai (8%) and Pune (14%) together accounting for 22% of it. During the same period, Mumbai saw the highest office leasing by GCCs in the banking, financial services, and insurance space despite Bengaluru having the deepest BFSI talent pool.
Further, the country is projected to see 180 m sq. ft. of office absorption through GCCs during 2025-30.