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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Unsung Champions

The Commonwealth Games have once again reminded India of a sporting truth that is too often forgotten amid the deafening roar of cricket stadiums, billion-dollar leagues and celebrity endorsements. The greatest sporting stories of at the CWG have emerged from dusty fields, improvised training grounds and lives shaped by extraordinary adversity. India’s athletes in Glasgow have rewritten the meaning of sporting triumph. The story of Sharmila Dhankar is nothing short of extraordinary. Struck by...

Unsung Champions

The Commonwealth Games have once again reminded India of a sporting truth that is too often forgotten amid the deafening roar of cricket stadiums, billion-dollar leagues and celebrity endorsements. The greatest sporting stories of at the CWG have emerged from dusty fields, improvised training grounds and lives shaped by extraordinary adversity. India’s athletes in Glasgow have rewritten the meaning of sporting triumph. The story of Sharmila Dhankar is nothing short of extraordinary. Struck by polio at the age of two, having endured the trauma of an abusive marriage, she could have been reduced to a statistic in a country where disability and social barriers often combine to crush ambition. Instead, the 40-year-old from Haryana transformed pain into power, producing a season’s best throw of 9.81 metres to become India’s first para-athlete to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal. Her victory in the women’s shot put F57 event was a declaration of human resilience. Sharmila’s journey, from physical disability and personal hardship to the top step of a global podium, captures the very essence of sport. Her compatriot Shilpa Shyla’s bronze medal in the same event added another chapter to this inspiring tale. Together, the two Indian women demonstrated that determination can overcome disadvantages that would have stopped many others. Sarvesh Kushare, who won a historic silver in the men’s high jump, comes from a farming family in Maharashtra’s Nashik district. His early training ground was not a sophisticated sports facility but makeshift pits created from agricultural waste by his father. Gulveer Singh’s magnificent silver in the men’s 10,000 metres - India’s first-ever medal in the event at the Commonwealth Games - was another reminder that Indian endurance athletes, often overlooked in a cricket-obsessed sporting ecosystem, possess the talent and tenacity to compete with the best in the world. These athletes represent a different India that battles scarcity, limited facilities and social constraints before it battles opponents on the track or field. Their medals are not products of privilege but triumphs of persistence. For decades, cricket has deservedly enjoyed its place as India’s most popular sport. But the imbalance in attention, resources and public imagination cannot continue indefinitely. A nation of 1.4 billion people cannot measure its sporting identity through one game alone. The Commonwealth Games have shown India a mirror that reflects not just medals, but the immense human potential waiting beyond the spotlight. The achievements in Glasgow should become a turning point. India must invest more deeply in athletics, para-sports and Olympic disciplines, not merely when medals arrive but when dreams begin. Because every Sharmila Dhankar, Sarvesh Kushare and Gulveer Singh represents the extraordinary sporting potential of India waiting to be unleashed.

India emerges as APAC’s highest-yield market: CBRE

Mumbai: India has emerged as the most attractive real estate yield market across the Asia Pacific region, driven by strong economic fundamentals, rising institutional participation and sustained occupier demand, according to a latest survey by CBRE. The consultancy’s Q1 2026 Asia Pacific Cap Rate Survey shows that India offers the highest yields across every major asset class, including office, retail, logistics, hotels and student housing, significantly outperforming mature markets such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea.


The findings come at a time when global investors are increasingly recalibrating their Asia Pacific strategies amid geopolitical uncertainty and slowing growth in several developed economies. India’s real estate market, backed by strong domestic consumption, infrastructure expansion and a growing corporate ecosystem, is increasingly being viewed as a high-growth alternative capable of delivering superior returns.


Investment volumes in Indian real estate surged 189 per cent year-on-year during the January-March quarter of 2026 to USD 2.29 billion, up from USD 839.85 million in the corresponding period last year. This marks the second-highest growth rate in Asia Pacific after Singapore, where investment volumes rose 364per cent.


“We are seeing genuine, broad-based demand across sectors driven by India’s economic fundamentals, its growing corporate base and a young, consumption-led population,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE. “Global investors who have been cautious till now are actively looking to deploy capital here, and we expect this momentum to strengthen further as more institutional-grade product comes to market,” he added.


Office Sector

India’s attractiveness is particularly visible in the office sector, where Grade A office cap rates in core central business districts range between 7.50 per cent and 8.40 per cent. In comparison, yields in Singapore stand at 3.25 per cent to 3.80 per cent, Tokyo at 2 per cent to 3 per cent, and Seoul at 3.75 per cent to 4.65 per cent. This substantial yield spread is drawing increasing attention from institutional investors seeking better risk-adjusted returns.


The student housing segment has emerged as another standout performer, delivering yields of 8.50 per cent to 9 per cent, nearly 320 basis points higher than Australia, the next-best market in the region. Similarly, India’s institutional-grade logistics assets offer cap rates of 7.15per cent to 7.75per cent, comfortably ahead of Vietnam’s 6per cent to 7per cent.


Industry experts believe these elevated yields reflect India’s position as a rapidly expanding emerging economy where institutional participation and price discovery mechanisms are still evolving. While mature markets offer stability, India provides the potential for stronger capital appreciation and income generation.


The report also underlined the growing maturity of India’s real estate capital markets. Apart from equity investments, global and domestic investors are increasingly participating through REITs, alternative investment funds (AIFs), structured debt, and private credit vehicles. India is now regarded as one of the leading markets in Asia Pacific for real estate debt interest, signalling a broader evolution of the sector beyond traditional equity-led investments.


“What makes India’s yield story particularly compelling right now is that it does not stand alone, but is supported by strong occupier fundamentals,” said Ada Choi, Head of Asia Pacific Research, CBRE. 


The rapid expansion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), government-led infrastructure spending, and rising domestic consumption are further strengthening demand across office, retail, logistics and hospitality assets.


However, challenges remain. Investors surveyed by CBRE identified slower-than-expected economic growth as a key risk. While lending conditions remain accommodative, any tightening in monetary policy or rise in credit costs could impact capital flows into the sector.


Despite these concerns, India’s real estate sector appears firmly positioned as the region’s most compelling high-yield investment destination, combining strong returns with long-term structural growth drivers.

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