Parag Gathani and the Indian-origin fund structurers reshaping institutional real estate capital in the GCC

A structural shift in how Indian capital enters Gulf real estate

For years, the narrative around Indian capital in GCC real estate centered on individual purchases: high-net-worth buyers acquiring luxury apartments in Dubai Marina, branded residences on Palm Jumeirah, or holiday homes along the Abu Dhabi coastline. That chapter has not closed, but a far more consequential one has opened. A new class of Indian-origin professionals, operating from within the Gulf, is now architecting the institutional vehicles through which capital flows into commercial real estate at scale.

Parag Gathani, a Director at Harrsh Exim, exemplifies this emerging cohort. Rather than simply deploying family office capital into individual assets, professionals like Gathani are building commercial real estate platforms across the GCC, structuring deals that bridge mid-market Indian family offices with Gulf-based development opportunities. The shift from transactional buyer to capital architect represents a qualitative leap in how Indian-origin talent shapes the region's property landscape.

The scale of the opportunity is substantial. According to IMARC Group data cited by GRI Institute, the GCC real estate market was valued at $141.2 billion in 2025, with the UAE commanding a 61.1% market share. The same source projects the market will reach $260.3 billion by 2034, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 7.03%. Within this expanding arena, Indian nationals already account for roughly 20–22% of foreign property purchases in Dubai, making them the largest single investor group in the market, according to Hindustan Times reporting from March 2026.

But aggregate purchase statistics obscure the real transformation underway. The most significant development is the professionalization of capital deployment, and it is professionals embedded in the GCC ecosystem who are driving it.

Who are the Indian-origin fund structurers building institutional vehicles in the GCC?

The term "fund structurer" describes a function distinct from that of the developer, the broker, or the family office principal. Fund structurers design the legal, financial, and operational architecture of investment vehicles. They determine how capital is pooled, how risk is distributed, how governance is organized, and how returns are allocated. In mature markets such as London or New York, this function has long been institutionalized within global asset managers. In the GCC, it is being built in real time, and Indian-origin professionals are playing a disproportionate role.

Parag Gathani's work at Harrsh Exim reflects a pattern visible across the Gulf. Mid-market Indian family offices, historically comfortable with direct ownership of individual assets, are now seeking platform-level exposure to commercial real estate. This requires someone who understands both the capital source and the destination market, someone who can translate the risk appetite of a Kolkata-based textile magnate into a co-investment structure compliant with DIFC regulations.

Amit Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of Nisus Finance, has observed that global portfolios are increasingly adopting a "Dubai + India" allocation strategy, treating the two markets as complementary rather than competing destinations. This dual-market logic demands fund structures sophisticated enough to accommodate cross-border capital flows, currency hedging, and divergent regulatory regimes.

The institutional joint venture model is another pathway gaining traction. Shahram Shamsaee, CEO of Merex Investment Group, represents this archetype, structuring partnerships that combine local development expertise with international capital. Meanwhile, Amine Bouchentouf, CIO of Atlas MENA Capital, focuses on middle-market deal flows between $20 million and $150 million in the GCC, a segment historically underserved by global institutional investors but ideally suited to the capital quantum available from Indian family offices.

These professionals operate at the intersection of capital formation and deal execution. Their value lies not in sourcing individual transactions but in creating repeatable, scalable platforms that institutional investors can underwrite.

Why does the GCC need a new capital architecture for real estate?

The Gulf's real estate markets are entering a phase that demands more sophisticated capital solutions than individual purchases or one-off joint ventures can provide. Three structural forces are converging.

First, supply is expanding rapidly. According to Alpen Capital, residential supply across the GCC is expected to increase from approximately 6.26 million units in 2025 to 7.28 million units by 2030. Absorbing this volume requires institutional-grade capital deployed through vehicles that can move quickly across asset classes and geographies within the region.

Second, Saudi Arabia is opening its market to foreign ownership at an unprecedented pace. Royal Decree No. M/14, the Law of Real Estate Ownership and Investment by Non-Saudis, became effective in January 2026, creating a framework for non-Saudi individuals and entities to own real estate in designated geographic zones. Knight Frank data cited by GRI Institute identifies $6.3 billion in private global capital positioned to enter the Saudi Arabian property market. Saudi Arabia's real estate market is itself projected to reach $262 billion by 2033, growing at an 8.3% CAGR, according to GRI Institute research. Channeling this capital efficiently requires investment vehicles structured by professionals who understand both the regulatory framework and the expectations of global investors.

Third, Dubai's transactional velocity continues to accelerate. Property transactions in the emirate reached AED 170 billion ($46.5 billion) in just the first two months of 2026, according to Dubai Land Department data reported by Zawya. At this pace, the market is generating deal flow that exceeds the capacity of bilateral transactions. Pooled investment vehicles, structured funds, and institutional joint ventures are becoming operational necessities.

The convergence of these forces creates a structural demand for fund structurers, professionals who can design vehicles capable of absorbing large capital inflows, distributing risk appropriately, and delivering transparent governance to investors accustomed to institutional standards.

What distinguishes this cohort from earlier waves of Indian participation in Gulf real estate?

The Indian presence in GCC real estate is not new. Indian developers have built projects across the Gulf for decades. Indian brokerages dominate Dubai's secondary market. Indian family offices have been among the most active purchasers of residential property in the Emirates. Each of these roles, however, operates within existing market infrastructure. The fund structurer creates new infrastructure.

Earlier waves of Indian participation were primarily operational or transactional. Developers built and sold. Brokers matched buyers with properties. Family offices acquired assets for their own balance sheets. The current cohort occupies a different position in the value chain. By designing investment vehicles, they determine how capital is organized before it reaches the market. This is a capital-architecture function, and it carries strategic significance that extends beyond any individual transaction.

Dubai's rental yield significantly outperforms other global cities, according to GRI Institute analysis, a factor that attracts yield-seeking Indian family offices. But converting yield-seeking intent into institutional capital deployment requires structured vehicles with professional governance, defined investment periods, clear exit mechanisms, and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. This is precisely the work that professionals like Gathani, and the broader cohort he represents, are performing.

The transition from opportunistic individual purchases to strategic, platform-level commercial investments marks a maturation of both the capital source and the destination market. Indian family offices are becoming more institutional in their approach. GCC markets are becoming more accommodating of structured foreign capital. The fund structurer sits at the nexus of both trends.

The strategic implications for GCC real estate markets

The emergence of Indian-origin fund structurers within the GCC carries implications that extend well beyond the Indian investor community. As these professionals build institutional vehicles, they create templates that other capital sources can adopt. A fund structure designed to channel Indian family office capital into Dubai commercial real estate can, with modifications, accommodate capital from Southeast Asian family offices, Latin American pension funds, or European insurance companies.

This is infrastructure building in the financial sense, creating the pipes through which capital flows. The GCC's ambition to become a global real estate investment hub depends not only on the quality of its physical assets but on the sophistication of its financial architecture. Professionals who build that architecture are performing a function as critical as any developer pouring concrete.

Within the GRI Institute community, this theme has gained increasing prominence. Conversations at GRI gatherings in the Gulf increasingly focus on capital structuring, fund formation, and the institutional frameworks necessary to support the region's growth trajectory. The shift from discussing individual deals to debating platform strategies reflects a market that is maturing rapidly.

The cohort represented by Parag Gathani is still small, but its influence is growing. As GCC real estate markets scale toward the projected $260.3 billion valuation by 2034, the professionals who design the vehicles carrying capital into that market will hold outsized strategic importance. Their work is quiet, technical, and largely invisible to the public, but it is reshaping the financial plumbing of Gulf real estate in ways that will endure long after the current development cycle concludes.