Tabreed Enters its First District Cooling Transaction in India through Strategic Alliance with TATA Realty

Multi-million-dirham investment opens door to enormous potential in India
Demand for cooling set to surge by 800% across country over next 15 years

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 30 May 2023: Tabreed, the world’s leading District Cooling provider, today announces it has achieved its first district cooling transaction in India through a strategic alliance with TATA Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL). The deal includes an investment of INR100 Cr (AED 44.34 million) in TATA Realty’s Intellion Park special economic zone (SEZ) development in Gurugram, northern India.

Through the investment, Tabreed will acquire the existing cooling infrastructure at the Intellion Park development, which covers a total area of 3.5 million square feet, and develop additional capacity to meet the development’s rising demand for cooling services. Moving away from the standard market practice in India where real estate developers own and operate cooling assets through facility management contracts, Tabreed will provide cost-effective and efficient cooling solutions for tenants of Intellion Park.

Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Tabreed, said: “As the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest growing economies, India will be a key strategic market and important partner for Tabreed as we expand our international presence.

“We expect to see large-scale adoption of District Cooling in India as demand for real estate and cooling grows at a rapid pace. Tabreed is delighted to partner with Tata Realty to develop leading, innovative District Cooling services, which will support sustainable urban development across India. This will unlock value for our stakeholders, while benefitting communities and reducing carbon emissions.”

India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change forecasts that aggregated cooling demand will rise eightfold by 2037-38, with cooling expected to account for 45% of peak energy demand across the country by 2050. In 2019, the ministry established the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) to support the growth of a sustainable District Cooling sector across the country.

Developers in India are currently allocating significant sums of capital on HVAC systems for new buildings, as well as highly-inefficient existing buildings, to achieve their net zero goals, while competing with and balancing other demands on their capex. Through demonstrating the value of cooling services at Intellion Park, Tabreed intends to pave the way for more rapid adoption of District Cooling in India, easing the burden of upfront costs for developers to inspire more sustainable cooling solutions for the Indian real estate sector, which is set to witness its fastest global increase in cooling-related energy demand in the coming decades.

Sanjay Dutt, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Realty said: “Tata Realty has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable real estate development in India. With numerous achievements, including the country’s first net-zero certified commercial real estate campus, the company has set a high bar for the rest of the industry. In continuation of this trend, Tata Realty’s engagement with Tabreed to launch the Cooling as a Service (CaaS) market in India is expected to be a pivotal event, enabling the delivery of superior value to occupants, while promoting higher standards of ESG and wellness in commercial and mixed-use real estate developments.”