In Mumbai, six-year-old Gauri Karhade goes to a school that is almost 7km from her home. Her mother, Mitali, a classical musician, worries about the child’s safety constantly. The commute generally takes up to 35 minutes but on a bad day, it could take as much as an hour.
“If I had a choice, I would send her to a school that is within our residential complex or at least somewhere close by. Then my maid can fetch her back in case of an emergency, as I travel constantly for my music and may not be at home all the time,” says Karhade.
In Gurgaon, in the National Capital Region (NCR) around New Delhi, one reason for Jayashree Menon’s move to her present home was the proximity to the school that her six-year-old son Nikhil goes to.
“It is a huge relief to me that Nikhil’s school is so close by, given that both my husband and I keep erratic hours, and it is only my old mother-in-law who is at home to look after the child. Besides, it is a much better school than the one he would have gone to from our old house,” says Menon.
More and more people are making home-buying decisions based on the quality and proximity of their children’s educational institutions. And real estate developers and funds are, in turn, wrapping their arms around the business of education. Developers such as Delhi-based Emaar MGF Ltd and Mumbai-based Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd (HCC) have teamed up with different schools for the township projects they have announced.
While Emaar tied up with Singapore-based Raffles Group, HCC has teamed up with the Girl’s Day School Trust, UK, for its new hill station project in Lavasa, near Pune. Pune’s Magarpatta City has tied up with Vidya Pratishthan to set up the Magarpatta City Public School.
The Baramati-based Vidya Pratishthan is promoted by Sharad Pawar, Union agriculture minister.
Some foreign universities such as Oxford University and the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US are also looking at setting up shop in India. Oxford will develop a range of custom-made and open executive education programmes that will be available at its India centre at Lavasa. A study of companies located in India and elsewhere is under way to begin development of these education programmes, which will first be delivered in early 2010, according to the Lavasa website.
The Georgia Institute of Technology has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government of Andhra Pradesh to develop two campuses in the state: a 20-acre campus near Hyderabad and a 470-acre campus near Visakhapatnam.
Given the promise of private education, which is more expensive and aspirational than government-funded schools, several real estate players, including funds such as Kotak Realty Fund, are looking at educational infrastructure as a possible investment opportunity.
Trikona Capital, a Delhi-based realty fund, for instance, plans to dedicate around 10% of its new $1 billion (Rs3,970 crore) fund Trident to investments in the sector.
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