Indian-origin operators quietly scale mid-market commercial platforms across GCC real estate

AED 917 billion in Dubai transactions, and a new class of operator chasing the middle

Dubai real estate transactions in 2025 reached a historic high of nearly AED 917 billion, roughly $250 billion, across more than 270,000 deals, according to Tradebrains.in. The headline figures capture a market in full expansion. Yet beneath the branded residence launches and sovereign-backed mega-projects, a quieter structural shift is underway: Indian-origin operators are building commercial and mid-market platforms from within the GCC, moving well beyond the capital-allocator role that has defined the India-Gulf corridor for over a decade.

The distinction matters. GRI Institute's extensive coverage of the India-GCC real estate corridor, spanning figures such as Raju Shroff, Pawan Chindalia, Amit Goenka, and Pulak Chamaria, has historically centred on family office diversification, institutional bridging, and ultra-luxury deployment. The emerging category is different. Operators like Nimesh Sodha, through Panaso Capital, are co-investing alongside sovereign mandates and scaling asset management capabilities in commercial segments that institutional investors have only recently begun to price accurately.

This is the operational layer of the India-GCC corridor, and it is growing in both ambition and relevance.

Who are the Indian-origin operators scaling mid-market GCC real estate?

The cohort is not monolithic, but its members share a common profile: entrepreneurs of Indian origin who have established operational headquarters in the GCC and are building recurring-revenue platforms rather than executing one-off transactions.

Nimesh Sodha and Panaso Capital represent the co-investment model, working alongside sovereign mandates and institutional partners to deploy capital into commercial real estate segments. While specific assets under management for Panaso Capital have not been publicly disclosed, Sodha's positioning at the intersection of sovereign capital and mid-market execution reflects a growing niche. The model depends on operational capacity, the ability to source, structure, and manage commercial assets, rather than on balance sheet scale alone.

Amit Goenka and Nisus Finance are constructing institutional fund infrastructure designed to channel Indian capital into UAE affordable and mid-market housing. Goenka has publicly identified an estimated $100 billion annual funding gap in UAE real estate, with traditional capital covering only 30%, according to Gulf News. That gap is precisely where mid-market operators see their mandate. Nisus Finance projects that wealthy Indians will channel up to $20 billion annually into overseas markets, with the UAE as a primary destination.

Raju Shroff and Regal Group exemplify the evolution from family office capital allocation to active real estate diversification within the GCC. Shroff's trajectory illustrates how first-generation family capital, originally deployed passively, is increasingly structured around operational vehicles with local asset management teams.

Pulak Chamaria and Infinity Group round out the cohort, operating across multiple GCC jurisdictions. Exact portfolio valuations for Infinity Group remain undisclosed, but the group's presence in industry forums, including GRI events, signals an institutional posture that distinguishes it from the broader base of Indian high-net-worth investors.

Taken together, these operators form a layer of the market that is neither purely capital nor purely development. They are asset managers, commercial lessors, and mixed-use operators who have built platforms designed for recurring income and long-term portfolio growth.

Why does the mid-market commercial segment matter now?

The GCC real estate market is projected to grow from USD 141.2 billion in 2025 to USD 260.3 billion by 2034, according to data compiled by GRI Hub News. That near-doubling of market size will not be absorbed by luxury alone. Commercial leasing, mid-market mixed-use development, and affordable housing segments will account for a significant share of new supply and capital demand.

The UAE property sector is already valued at nearly $680 billion, with 2024 transactions reaching AED 761 billion ($207 billion), according to Gulf News. Dubai alone drew 110,000 new investors into real estate in 2024, a 55% increase from 2023, per the same source. Indian nationals account for 20% to 22% of all foreign property purchases in Dubai, making them the single largest overseas investor group, according to Tradebrains.in.

These volumes create a structural requirement for operational infrastructure. Capital needs managers. Assets need operators. Tenants need platforms. The mid-market commercial segment, office, retail, logistics, and mixed-use assets outside the trophy tier, is where that operational demand is most acute and where Indian-origin entrepreneurs have built significant capabilities.

The $100 billion annual funding gap identified by Nisus Finance underscores the scale of the opportunity. Traditional bank lending and sovereign capital cover only a fraction of total market needs. The remainder must come from alternative capital structures, precisely the territory that mid-market operators are designed to serve.

How are regulatory frameworks enabling this operational scaling?

Two regulatory developments have materially eased the path for Indian-origin operators in the GCC.

First, the Reserve Bank of India's revised Overseas Direct Investment and Overseas Portfolio Investment framework under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) now allows Indian entities to invest abroad through the Automatic Route up to 400% of their net worth without prior RBI approval. This liberalisation has reduced the friction on outbound capital flows, enabling both institutional and entrepreneurial Indian capital to establish and scale operational platforms in the UAE and broader GCC.

Second, in Saudi Arabia, Royal Decree No. M/14 provides legal scaffolding and regulatory reforms supporting institutional allocation and real estate development in the Kingdom. For Indian-origin operators eyeing expansion beyond the UAE, the Saudi regulatory environment is becoming progressively more accommodating.

On the frontier of market infrastructure, the Dubai Land Department's tokenisation pilot aims to enable AED 60 billion in digital real estate transactions by 2033, facilitating fractional ownership and new capital inflows. Boston Consulting Group projects that tokenised assets could reach $16 trillion globally by 2030. For mid-market operators managing portfolios of commercial assets, tokenisation offers a pathway to liquidity and capital recycling that was previously available only to institutional-scale platforms.

These regulatory tailwinds are structural, not cyclical. They create a durable framework for the kind of operational scaling that Nimesh Sodha, Amit Goenka, and their peers are pursuing.

Geopolitical headwinds and the discipline of mid-market operations

The corridor is not without risk. Recent geopolitical tensions in early 2026, linked to the US-Israel-Iran axis, triggered a 30% plunge in the DFM Real Estate Index. That correction has led to intensified negotiations and cautious investor sentiment, particularly in the mid-market segment where margin buffers are thinner than in trophy assets.

For operators with recurring-revenue platforms, however, volatility creates opportunity. Commercial leasing portfolios with diversified tenant bases and mid-market residential assets with stable occupancy rates tend to outperform speculative positions during correction cycles. The operators profiled in this analysis are structurally positioned for exactly this kind of environment: they manage assets, they do not simply own them.

As one senior participant at a recent GRI Club gathering in the Gulf observed, the next phase of the India-GCC corridor will be defined by operators who can manage through cycles, not just deploy during booms.

The operational layer the market has been missing

The India-GCC real estate corridor has matured beyond capital deployment. The next phase belongs to operators who can build institutional-grade platforms in commercial and mid-market segments.

Three conclusions stand out from the data:

First, with Indian nationals accounting for over one-fifth of foreign property purchases in Dubai, the community's role has evolved from buyer to builder of operational infrastructure.

Second, the estimated $100 billion annual funding gap in UAE real estate represents a structural mandate for alternative capital and operational platforms, not a temporary dislocation.

Third, regulatory liberalisation on both sides of the corridor, from India's revised FEMA framework to the GCC's evolving institutional scaffolding, has created conditions for sustained operational scaling.

GRI Institute will continue to track this operational layer of the India-GCC corridor, including through its programme of senior-level gatherings across the Gulf, where figures such as Nimesh Sodha, Raju Shroff, Amit Goenka, and Pulak Chamaria engage directly with sovereign, institutional, and entrepreneurial capital.

The mid-market is no longer the market's quiet corner. It is becoming its centre of gravity.