INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Vivek Chandy, Archana Tewary, Kumarmanglam Vijay and Brijita Prakash, JSA
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
move towards working from the office full-time, com - mercial real estate and office spaces will also see more leasing activity. Another important factor is the development of large global data/capability centres across India, driving up demand for commercial devel - opments. The development of infrastructure continues to have a multiplier effect on the real estate sector, with increased focus on public-private partnership projects. The government made a significant push with regard to development of affordable housing in the 2025-26 budget by including a second Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) fund, with an INR150 billion allocation. In the most recent budget for the year 2026-27, while the government did not announce direct benefits for the real estate sector in the face of global headwinds driven by vari - ous geopolitical factors, the government continues to emphasise the development of infrastructure and related sectors which are sure to have a multiplier effect on real estate development. Leasing documents have become significantly more sophisticated, and in several cases, facilities over 1 million sq ft have been taken on lease in single trans - actions. In commercial leasing, India is also seeing the growth of serviced office space companies, as many businesses are opting for serviced office spaces, even when the space requirement is 30,000 sq ft and over, to minimise capital investments. Inflation and increasing interest rates seem to have impacted certain segments of the residential market due to the increasing cost of acquisition. Real estate has been revolutionised by the adoption of disruptive technologies, notably blockchain and proptech. Proptech streamlines and connects the processes for participants in all stages of real estate transactions, including buyers, sellers, brokers, lend - ers and landlords. The Andhra Pradesh government has partnered with a Swedish start-up to build its blockchain-based solu - tion. NITI Aayog has previously highlighted its efforts towards IndiaChain, a blockchain infrastructure for managing public records, which will also be used for
The Indian legal system comprises civil law, custom - ary and personal law, and common law. Real estate transactions are subject to central/state legislation, personal/religious laws, judicial precedents and sub - ordinate legislation. Real estate laws can be categorised as: • laws applicable to the acquisition, transfer and registration of immovable properties, including the Transfer of Property Act 1882 (TOPA), the Registra - tion Act 1908 (Registration Act), the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 (RERA), the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettle - ment Act 2013, the Benami Transactions (Prohibi - tion) Act 1988, the Indian Stamp Act 1899, state- specific stamp duty legislation and land revenue codes; • exchange control regulations for foreign investors – primarily the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 and the rules thereunder (FEMA), including the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules 2019 (Non-Debt Rules) and the Foreign Exchange Management (Debt Instruments) Regulations 2019 (Debt Regulations); • corporate laws, such as the Companies Act 2013 (Companies Act), if the transaction involves a com - pany, and the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008 (LLP Act), where a limited liability partnership firm (LLP) is involved; and • personal/religious laws that determine title acquired through inheritance or succession. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals The real estate sector has seen several deals involv - ing industrial assets, warehousing assets and logistics assets. Investors have shown significant interest in logistics and warehousing assets outside Tier-1 cit - ies and in “smart cities”. The government continues to emphasise development of infrastructure in Tier- 2/Tier-3 cities, resulting in development and land value appreciation in these cities. There is increased demand for residential projects and integrated devel - opments in such cities. As companies continue to
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