By Ravi Teja Sharma, ET Bureau indiatimes.com
NEW DELHI: Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower and perhaps the poshest address in the Gulf, is fast acquiring a distinct Indian identity.
Indians now own more than a hundred of 900 apartments in Dubai’s 828-metre skyscraper, a sign of the growing financial power of the community in the West Asia.
“Indians have bought between 100 and 150 apartments since its completion in 2010,” an executive of project developer Emaar Properties said on condition of anonymity.
The figure reflects a growing trend among well-heeled Indians to invest in property in the West Asia, especially Dubai, the luxury hotspot where the real estate market is on a rebound after the slump in 2008.
Here, the depreciating rupee is no dampener.
“Indians are the No. 1 when it comes to buying property in Dubai. They buy, sell, flip regularly, and we are getting a lot of queries from them,” said Manish Khatri, vice-president of business development and investments at Dubai-based SPF Realty.
Khatri said more than half of SPF’s business comes from Indians.
Prominent Indians who have acquired an address in Burj Khalifa include actors Mohanlal and Shilpa Shetty, Shetty’s entrepreneur husband Raj Kundra and lawyer Rohit Kochhar. More info
