A growing number of landowners across India are leveraging the ground lease model as a strategic alternative to the outright sale of industrial plots, responding to shifting investor and occupier preferences in the evolving industrial real estate market. By offering long-term leaseholds—typically spanning 30 to 99 years—landowners can monetize their assets through recurring income while retaining long-term ownership, preserving future value, and mitigating the finality of a one-time sale.
This shift is particularly prevalent in high-demand industrial zones, logistics corridors, and peripheries of Tier-I and Tier-II cities, where land prices are climbing and developers prefer asset-light expansion models. Manufacturers, logistics providers, and build-to-suit operators favor ground leases because they allow access to strategically located, infrastructure-ready plots without the high upfront cost of acquisition, freeing up capital for facility development, automation, and operations. The model also supports quicker project approvals, often facilitated through industrial park frameworks or public-private partnerships (PPPs).
For landowners—whether individuals, families, industrial trusts, or state development corporations—the ground lease route provides inflation-linked income, flexibility in structuring terms, and the potential for renegotiation or re-use upon lease expiration. It also positions them to participate more actively in India’s long-term industrial growth without surrendering asset control. As the industrial real estate sector becomes increasingly structured and institutionalized, ground leasing is emerging as a financially prudent, control-preserving alternative to outright land sale, balancing liquidity, risk management, and generational asset stewardship.
