DRA Group, Balajadia family launch $100 million real estate platform
The platform, which will be owned equally by both partners, marks the debut of a Filipino company in India's thriving realty market. It will initially focus on Grade A commercial and retail developments in Chennai and Bengaluru.
The first project-a 60,000 sq ft retail centre in Chennai's OMR corridor-is currently underway at an investment of $10 million. Another upcoming project is a 1.6-acre commercial centre in Chennai.
The platform has set a medium-term development target of over 1 million sq ft, with assets ranging from core central business district (CBD) plots to growth locations in suburban areas. The portfolio will comprise 70% commercial and 30% retail assets across Chennai and Bengaluru.
"The platform allows us to take a programmatic approach to both greenfield and value-add commercial projects, while de-risking through tenant pre-leasing and asset-backed capital deployment over the next three years," said Ranjeeth Rathod, managing director, DRA Group.
For DRA Group, known for residential and mixed-use townships, the platform marks a shift into institutional-grade commercial and retail real estate. As part of the platform strategy, DRA plans to acquire 1.5-2 acre land parcels in high-absorption micro-markets having strong infrastructure.
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Mint
an hour ago
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With billions at risk, Nvidia CEO buys his way out of the trade battle
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The CEO has lavished praise on Trump and China, and the admiration is mutual. On a July visit to Beijing, Huang hailed Chinese technological progress. Privately, a lieutenant to Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Huang that Beijing appreciated how Nvidia was contributing to the world's AI advances. At a Washington AI summit in late July, Trump said he had looked at breaking up Nvidia because of its dominant market share. But that was before he got to know Huang and the industry. 'What a job you've done," Trump told Huang, who was seated in the front row, surrounded by administration officials and industry executives. 'America's unique advantage that no country could possibly have is President Trump," Huang said at the summit. As Elon Musk learned, winners in the Washington influence competition attract opponents. Lawmakers in both parties have challenged Huang, saying that if China gets Nvidia chips, China's AI companies could benefit, potentially aiding the Chinese military. 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The 62-year-old billionaire, a libertarian at heart, resisted the lobbying game, delegating the task to his lieutenants. As Nvidia's chips became one of the world's most strategic commodities because of their role in AI, Washington remained a no-man's-land for the Silicon Valley company. Huang didn't visit the White House or engage lawmakers meaningfully until 2023, when he joined the chief executives of Intel and Qualcomm to lobby against new curbs on tech sales to China by the Biden administration. Restrictions on chip exports to many countries friendly with the U.S. announced in the final days of Biden's term escalated the threat. When Trump won a second term, Huang faced an administration stacked with China hawks, and the prospect of even tighter U.S. controls on tech exports. The company bashed the Biden administration's restrictions and warned the rules would benefit such Chinese competitors as Nvidia-rival Huawei. Nvidia hired former Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien, co-founder of a consulting firm. Robert O'Brien, former Trump national security adviser, during an interview at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. O'Brien helped communicate a sense of urgency regarding breakthroughs from DeepSeek and other Chinese AI companies, as well as chip advances by Huawei. Former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who chairs an institute that promotes innovation, also carried the message. In early April, when the White House was preparing to cut off H20 sales, Huang attended a $1 million-a-head dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He told the president that selling the chip in China wasn't a threat to national security. Huang also dangled an incentive: a promise to invest as much as half a trillion dollars worth of AI infrastructure and supercomputers in the U.S. Huang thought he had made a persuasive case, and Trump announced the $500 billion investment. After the dinner, a powerful rival intervened with a counterargument. Musk, still close to Trump at the time, had his own AI ambitions to consider. He told Trump that any advanced chip in Chinese hands threatened U.S. tech supremacy. That view, combined with opposition from national security-minded officials, persuaded Trump to impose the restriction Huang had tried to stop. Huang had been outmaneuvered and didn't enjoy losing—especially when, as he later said, $15 billion in sales were at stake. In early May, Huang spent about two hours with members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a private discussion about the threat of Huawei and Chinese competitors and the need for Nvidia to have access to Chinese talent. Later that month, the Trump administration said it was getting rid of the Biden rule limiting chip sales to many friendly countries after pushback from Huang and other industry executives. Huang found a powerful ally at the White House—the so-called AI czar, David Sacks. He shared the fear of ceding the advanced chip market to Chinese rivals. The two men drew the support of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees export controls and is well-acquainted with tech companies from his former career as a Wall Street dealmaker. All three championed a deal to send Nvidia chips to the United Arab Emirates in mid-May. They later went to see Trump for an unannounced meeting at the White House on July 10. Huang told the president that tight restrictions on Nvidia would just give Huawei a leg up in the AI race. Nvidia needed to access the Chinese market and its AI talent, Huang said: Did the president really want to let China get all the spoils and turn American champions like Nvidia into losers? Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, left, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during a White House meeting in April. Trump made his decision, which was announced days later when Huang was in Beijing. China could have the H20 chips as part of a broader trade detente. China hawks who counted on Trump's support were appalled. Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, wrote to Lutnick expressing 'grave concern with the administration's abrupt and inexplicable decision." They said China's commercial AI advances, helped by Nvidia, were 'quickly translating into a national security advantage for the People's Liberation Army." Nvidia has played down concerns about large numbers of chips being diverted to China's military or other adversaries. Beijing would consider such a move risky because Washington could cut off access at any time, according to Huang. 'They simply can't rely on it," He said in a TV interview in July. Winning in Washington was only half the battle. Nvidia's market share in China fell to 50% from 95% over the past four years under U.S. restrictions, Huang said in May. He visited China at least three times this year to reassure Chinese tech executives and government officials that Nvidia was committed to the market. The trips came when many U.S. executives shunned visits to Beijing or even being seen with Chinese tech titans. Huang has met with top executives of Chinese cloud-computing leader Alibaba, smartphone and automaker Xiaomi and OpenAI challenger MiniMax. People in China's tech industry said they appreciated Huang's efforts to modify his chips so they could be sold in China. Engineers there nicknamed him 'Magic Tailor" for his skill in designing chips to thread the needle of U.S. regulations. Jensen Huang surrounded by a crowd in Beijing last month. Knowing the importance of the Chinese market to Nvidia, Beijing increased pressure on the company: China's cybersecurity regulator recently summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss alleged security risks of the H20 chips, citing comments by U.S. lawmakers about the need for a bill to require tracking capabilities for advanced chips sold abroad. Huang and others in the industry have lobbied against the bill, which could face more opposition if it gains traction. The White House has said it wants to study chip tracking but hasn't weighed in on the legislation specifically. Nvidia denied the H20 chip presented such security risks to Beijing. While the H20 can't be used for creating large AI models, such as the ones powering ChatGPT and other chatbots, engineers say the chip is still good at 'inference," the ability of AI programs to tap their training to answer user questions. 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Economic Times
an hour ago
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Economic Times
an hour ago
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