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India's push to modernise its education system is creating a massive new opportunity for the real estate industry. A new report by ANAROCK Capital, titled "The Academic Real Estate Supercycle," reveals that the country needs a huge amount of new land and buildings to meet the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Specifically, the report finds that achieving these national targets will require an additional 2.7 billion square feet of academic built-up area. This expansion is expected to take up nearly 30,000 acres of new campus land across the country, marking a major shift in how institutional land is used. This scale of building represents a construction-led investment opportunity of approximately USD 100 billion. This figure only covers the cost of building academic facilities like classrooms and laboratories. It does not even include the extra money needed to buy land or build student housing, which would make the total investment even higher. The report explains that this demand is coming from a growing number of students and new government rules. The report states: "Meeting this demand will necessitate approximately USD 100 billion in investment for academic facilities alone, excluding land acquisition and student accommodation infrastructure." The report suggests that the higher education sector is now one of the most important areas for property investors and developers. With the government aiming to double the number of students in college by 2035, the need for high-quality space is urgent. The report describes the situation as a unique global event, noting: "This scale of expansion, underpinned by demographic momentum, rising enrolments, globalisation of education, and landmark regulatory reforms, represents arguably the largest higher-education build-out market globally." New trends are also appearing in how these educational spaces are developed. The government is starting to support the idea of "university townships," which are large areas designed specifically for schools and students to live and work together. Real estate developers are expected to play a key role in building these townships and providing rental spaces for foreign universities entering India. According to the report, this transition offers a major chance for the real estate market to grow in a new direction over the next ten years. (ANI)
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