Venkat Neelakantan, Senior Vice President, Head Asset and Facilities Management, K. Raheja Corporation, Mindspace REIT, during a session with Jerry Kingsley, Head of Research, India, and City Lead for Captial Markets, JLL Chennai at The Hindu Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure Summit 2026 in Chennai on Thursday
| Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj
Chennai is a promising city, as the Radial Road corridor already hosts several Fortune 500 companies, said N. Venkat, Senior Vice President (Head, Asset and Facilities Management) of K. Raheja Corporation, Mindspace REIT, which manages more than 30 commercial portfolios in the country, during a fireside chat on ‘Why Tamil Nadu is Emerging as India’s Next GCC Powerhouse’, at the The Hindu Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure Summit 2026 in Chennai on Thursday (July 30, 2026).
The chat was moderated by Jerry Kingsley, Head of Research, India and City Lead for Capital Markets, JLL Chennai. Mr. Venkat said that the city, having earned a reputation as an industrial hub because of the large number of automobile companies operating there and its good engineering colleges, has the potential to attract global capability centres (GCCs) looking for commercial space outside their parent country. He added: “Chennai has evolved on both the residential and commercial fronts, with several amenities coming up.”
Mr. Venkat, who witnessed the establishment of Tidel Park on Rajiv Gandhi Salai, said the expectations of office-space tenants are high, and last-mile connectivity has become a necessity for a large office-going population.
Regarding the suggestion on whether the Raheja Group, which has been involved in several policy initiatives in Hyderabad, would be interested in Chennai, Mr. Venkat said they would definitely be happy to come to Chennai. However, the growing working population is not willing to travel for one or one-and-a-half hours to the workplace, he said.
The Real Estate and Infrastructure Summit 2026 is presented by Casagrand in association with Adissia Developers. The event is supported by – Associate Partners: Navin’s and Mindspace REIT; Banking Partner: State Bank of India; Insurance Partner: United India Insurance; Academic Partner: Saveetha College of Architecture & Design; Industry Partner: CREDAI Chennai; Television Partner: Puthiya Thalaimurai; and Digital News Partner: The Federal.
Published – July 30, 2026 07:03 pm IST
