GIC and Ascendas-Singbridge Group, jointly owned by Temasek Holdings and JTC Corporation, announced yesterday their acquisition of a 6.5ha land parcel in Pune, India.

The acquisition is the second investment under the Ascendas India Growth Programme (AIGP), in which GIC is a principal investor along with Ascendas-Singbridge. Established in 2013, AIGP has a target asset size of $600 million. Its first investment was in International Tech Park Gurgaon.

Acquired from the Kohinoor Group of Pune, the land parcel is located in Kharadi, the prime suburban business district of Pune. It is close to social infrastructure such as residential developments, hotels, business parks, malls, and educational and medical institutions.

With a total development potential of 2.2 million sq ft, the land parcel will be developed into an IT and IT Special Economic Zone park with supporting amenities, a trademark of Ascendas-Singbridge's IT parks in India. The first phase will offer approximately 1 million sq ft of space and is scheduled to be completed by early 2020.

Mr Sanjay Dutt, chief executive officer for operations and private funds at Ascendas-Singbridge India, said: "Pune has seen a consistently strong demand for business space which is evident from the high occupancy managed by Ascendas-Singbridge. With this new site in Kharadi, we will be able to offer our occupiers more options within the city."