RMZ Corp entered into a landmark US$1 billion joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan in late January 2020 to develop large-scale Grade-A office assets in India, marking Mitsui Fudosan’s maiden investment in the country. The partnership was centered on RMZ Ecoworld 30 in Bengaluru and aimed to create a long-term office platform across key Indian metros.​

Deal announcement and timing

The joint venture was announced around the end of January 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began disrupting global markets. Structured as an equal 50:50 partnership of up to US$1 billion, the JV was positioned as a strategic, long-horizon office investment platform rather than a one-off asset transaction.​

The alliance involved RMZ Corp, one of India’s leading privately held office developers, and Mitsui Fudosan (Asia) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Tokyo-headquartered Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd., Japan’s largest real estate developer. For Mitsui Fudosan, the JV represented a key step in its global expansion strategy and its first direct foray into Indian commercial real estate.​

Structure, size and capital plans

Under the terms of the JV, RMZ Corp and Mitsui Fudosan agreed to co-invest on a 50:50 basis in a portfolio with a total development potential of up to US$1 billion in commercial office assets. The structure allowed RMZ to recycle capital and scale its development pipeline, while Mitsui Fudosan gained exposure to India’s high-growth office market with a local, execution-focused partner.​

Initial equity commitments were tied to RMZ Ecoworld 30, but the platform was explicitly designed to be scalable, enabling future infusions of capital into additional projects across multiple cities. The JV was expected to support RMZ’s “Hyper Growth – Vision 2025” plan to build a portfolio of roughly 85 million sq ft of assets under management.​

Flagship asset: RMZ Ecoworld 30

The first development under the JV was RMZ Ecoworld 30, a roughly 3.5 million sq ft office project within RMZ’s flagship Ecoworld IT park on Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road. Designed as a large, campus-style office hub, Ecoworld 30 was planned in multiple phases, with the first phase already under construction and targeted to become operational by around 2022.​

RMZ Ecoworld itself was already a major IT corridor destination, with earlier phases hosting about 7 million sq ft of operational space and a sizeable community of technology and global capability center occupiers. The new Ecoworld 30 blocks were conceived as future-ready workplaces, integrating sustainable building features, advanced digital infrastructure, and curated amenities to enhance employee experience.​

City expansion and portfolio vision

Beyond Bengaluru, the partners signaled intent to extend the JV’s footprint to Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, and to selectively consider opportunities in other major office markets. The strategy was to assemble a diversified portfolio of premium office assets anchored by long-term, blue-chip tenants, benefiting from India’s growing role as a global services and technology hub.​

The JV’s focus on large-scale business parks and integrated campuses aligned with evolving occupier preferences for collaborative, amenity-rich environments. By combining RMZ’s local development and leasing strengths with Mitsui Fudosan’s global asset management capabilities, the platform aimed to deliver stable, annuity-style income and long-term value creation.​

Strategic rationale for RMZ Corp

For RMZ Corp, the JV was a key milestone in its capital-light growth strategy at the start of 2020. Partnering with a deep-pocketed, investment-grade global player helped RMZ unlock development value, reduce balance sheet risk, and accelerate build-out of its office pipeline without fully monetising assets through outright sales.​

RMZ’s leadership described the alliance as central to its Vision 2025 plan of scaling to 85 million sq ft of assets under management and building a one million-member office community. The partnership also supported RMZ’s positioning as a “Future of Space” brand, committed to smart, sustainable and experience-led workplaces in India’s top office markets.​

Strategic rationale for Mitsui Fudosan

For Mitsui Fudosan, the RMZ JV offered an immediate, high-quality entry platform in one of the world’s fastest-growing office markets. Rather than starting with a standalone, self-developed project, the Japanese developer chose to partner a seasoned local player with a sizable, stabilised portfolio and strong tenant relationships.​

The investment aligned with Mitsui Fudosan’s broader Asia strategy of diversifying beyond Japan into growth markets with structural demand for Grade-A commercial real estate. Executives from Mitsui Fudosan highlighted their intention to bring Japanese precision, sustainability standards and property management expertise to Indian campuses developed under the JV.​

Market context and impact

The announcement in early 2020 came against the backdrop of robust demand for quality office space in India’s tech hubs, led by global IT, BFSI and captive centers. International capital had already begun flowing into Indian offices through sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and global private equity, and the RMZ–Mitsui Fudosan JV added a major Japanese name to that list.​

In the medium term, the JV was seen as a vote of confidence in India’s office story, even as the pandemic posed near-term uncertainties. It also signaled increasing Japanese interest in Indian commercial real estate, paving the way for further collaborations between Japanese institutions and Indian developers in subsequent years.​

  JV, mitsui fudosan, rmz