IFC on Monday announced an equity investment of ₹225 crore (approximately $23 million) in NDR Smart Spaces
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Andrii Yalanskyi
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, on Monday announced an equity investment of ₹225 crore (approximately $23 million) in NDR Smart Spaces Private Limited. This is a newly established platform by the NDR group which is the sponsor of NDR InvIT Trust, dedicated to developing Grade A warehousing and logistics infrastructure across India including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
The investment will support NDR Smart Spaces in developing a pipeline of approximately 20 million square feet of Grade A warehousing infrastructure across 14 cities, including approximately 8 million square feet under construction. The portfolio will comprise both dry warehousing and cold storage facilities, with a strategic focus on Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities that have historically been underserved by modern logistics infrastructure, and where quality formal employment in the organized sector remains scarce, says a company release.
Job creation is at the heart of this investment. The partnership is expected to create about 1,200 direct jobs per million square feet of warehousing developed. Across NDR Smart Spaces’ 20 million square foot pipeline, this translates to around 24,000 direct employment opportunities spanning logistics, operations, maintenance, and management roles. These also include jobs for women with NDR Group warehouses already employing up to 4,000 women in their operations, the release said.
Another critical component of NDR Smart Spaces’ development pipeline is cold storage infrastructure. India loses an estimated 25–30 per cent of its fruit and vegetable production each year due to inadequate cold chain facilities, directly impacting farmers’ incomes and price and availability of food for consumers. This project will add 1.5 million square feet of cold storage capacity, directly helping reduce post-harvest losses, support farmers’ incomes, and improve the supply of food for consumers, says the release.
Amrutesh Reddy, Director, NDR Smart Spaces, said: “IFC’s investment marks a significant milestone in NDR Smart Spaces’ growth journey. As India continues to invest in world-class infrastructure, this partnership strengthens our ability to develop high-quality logistics and social infrastructure assets at scale. We look forward to leveraging this partnership to accelerate our growth while creating long-term value for all our stakeholders.”
Vikram Kumar, IFC’s Regional Industry Director, Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Asia and the Pacific, said, “Logistics is the lifeblood of any economy, and in India, where per capita warehousing stock remains approximately three times lower than in similar markets, getting it right matters enormously. In partnering with NDR Smart Spaces, our joint ambition is clear: build a pipeline of Grade A warehousing that is developed, owned, and operated to world-leading standards that can carry the weight of India’s growth. That’s the institutional transformation we’re backing—a platform built to attract the long-term capital and innovation this sector needs.”
Logistics costs in India currently stand at 13–14 per cent of GDP, compared to the global average of 8 per cent, and the Government’s National Logistics Policy (2022) has set out to close that gap. NDR Smart Spaces’ expansion of Grade A warehousing—built to the Advanced EDGE green building standard, targeting a 40 per cent reduction in energy consumption and a 20 per cent reduction in water consumption—supports that goal directly, improving supply chain efficiency, reducing costs for manufacturers and retailers, and opening new markets for businesses in smaller cities and towns, the release said.
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