Shobhit Agarwal,  former managing director, Capital Markets & International Director of JLL Property Consultants (India), today launched ANB Capital Advisors,  an India-based real estate investment banking firm to advise on high-value transactions in the industry. 
 
The firm, headquartered in Mumbai, will focus exclusively on various asset classes in real estate. 
 
ANB Capital Advisors will undertake transactions under the ambit of investment banking business in the real estate industry. The key focus is on capital markets, corporate finance, hotels & hospitality, land, and warehousing and logistics across India.
 
The firm will work with developers, landowners, capital providers including private equity funds, banks, insurance companies and financial institutions.
 
"The capital requirements in Indian real estate are immense," said Agarwal, MD and CEO of ANB Capital Advisors. 
 
"To give a perspective, India still has a shortage of 18 million homes that requires $330 billion of construction funding. The existing gross bank credit to the sector is less than $55 billion. If we consider the larger sector beyond residential, the capital infusion requirements are virtually limitless."
 
"Indian real estate is metamorphosing into a highly transparent industry into which all large global funds will want to enter aggressively," he said. 
 
"Intermediary services in this space are very thin on the ground, and there is considerable scope for organized professional advisors. The launch of ANB Capital Advisors could not be better-timed, given the high deal flows in residential and office real estate," he added.