India's private credit and real estate investment landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by rising domestic institutional participation, alternative financing models, artificial intelligence and growing cross-border investment opportunities.
In an exclusive interview with Srajan Agarwal, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, News4Bharat, Dr. Amit Goenka, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Nisus Finance Services Co. Ltd. (NIFCO), shares his perspectives on India's evolving private credit ecosystem, the growing importance of domestic capital, GIFT City's ambition to emerge as a global financial hub, and the future of urban redevelopment.
Discussing the practical applications of AI in credit underwriting, the growing influence of Gulf investors and the need for patient capital in infrastructure development, Dr. Goenka highlights why disciplined financing, regulatory certainty and institutional accountability will be critical to India's next phase of economic growth.
The conversation also explores how a hypothetical ₹10,000 crore investment could help address urban financing bottlenecks and why India's cities of tomorrow will require integrated approaches to housing, infrastructure, technology and sustainable development.
Q1. With Artificial Intelligence dominating headlines across every industry, where do you see AI adding real, practical value the credit market today, and where is it just marketing hype that can never replace ground-level human judgment?
AI will add real value to credit markets when it is used as an intelligence and efficiency layer rather than as a substitute for underwriting judgment. The immediate opportunity is in processing large volumes of borrower data, identifying patterns across cash flows and transactions, improving early-warning systems and making portfolio monitoring more continuous. In private credit, AI can also improve the speed at which lenders analyse financial statements, project data and collateral information.
However, credit is ultimately about understanding intent, governance, promoter behaviour and the quality of underlying cash flows areas where human judgment remains critical. The RBI’s proposed AI framework itself emphasises model governance, independent validation and human oversight for high-risk applications. That is the right direction. The real differentiator will not be who uses the most AI, but who combines technology with experienced underwriting, strong data discipline and accountability. AI should make a good credit team better; it cannot make weak underwriting disappear.
Q2. For decades, global investors were seen as the primary source of sophisticated capital for Indian real estate. Today, domestic institutions and wealthy Indian investors are taking a much larger role. Has India reached the point where it no longer needs foreign capital to validate its growth story, and what changes when Indian savings begin financing Indian assets at scale?
I would not frame it as India no longer needing foreign capital. Rather, India has reached a stage where foreign capital is no longer required to validate the basic growth thesis. The numbers are telling. JLL estimates that domestic institutional investors accounted for around 63% of institutional real estate investment in H1 2026, the highest share recorded, while domestic investment rose sharply even as foreign capital became more selective. CBRE also reported a record US$8.5 billion of equity inflows into Indian real estate in H1 2026.
This is an important structural change because Indian savings are increasingly being channelled through REITs, private equity funds, family offices and other institutional vehicles into productive assets. It creates greater resilience because capital formation becomes less dependent on global risk appetite and currency cycles. Foreign investors will remain important, particularly for large platforms and specialised assets, but the relationship is evolving. India is moving from being a market that seeks global validation to one where domestic capital itself is becoming a meaningful source of scale, price discovery and long-term ownership.
Q3. Private credit is financing projects that traditional banks either cannot or choose not to fund. But whenever money moves outside conventional banking, questions around transparency and risk naturally arise. How do we ensure private credit becomes a solution to India's financing gap rather than creating the kind of hidden leverage that has caused crises in other markets?
Private credit becomes a solution to India’s financing gap when it is built around disciplined underwriting rather than simply higher yields. The opportunity is significant because traditional lenders and borrowers do not always have perfectly aligned requirements around tenor, structure or risk appetite. Private credit can fill that gap with customised, asset-backed and cash-flow-linked financing.
The market is already becoming more institutional. EY estimates that private credit investments in India reached US$3.5 billion across more than 100 transactions above US$10 million in H1 2026, with domestic funds accounting for 74% of deal value. The next phase should focus on transparency, covenants, independent valuation, appropriate leverage and regular portfolio monitoring. I would also distinguish private credit from unregulated leverage: good private credit is structured precisely to control downside.
The objective should be to create a financing ecosystem where risk is priced transparently, collateral and cash flows are understood, and lenders have clear monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Scale should follow governance not the other way around.
Q4. India and the UAE have built a formidable trade relationship, but investment flows still have considerable room to grow. Beyond real estate, where do you see Gulf capital making its biggest bets in India over the next decade, and what does India need to do differently to compete with markets like the US, Europe and Southeast Asia for that money?
Beyond traditional real estate, I see Gulf capital increasingly moving towards infrastructure, energy transition, logistics, data centres, ports and shipping, financial services and technology-led platforms. These are sectors where India’s domestic demand and the Gulf’s long-duration capital can be highly complementary. Recent India-UAE discussions have already identified ports, shipping, energy, logistics, startups and the stock market as areas for greater investment, with the UAE indicating another US$25 billion of potential investment.
The bigger opportunity is to move from transaction-led investing to strategic partnerships. India offers scale and a long growth runway; Gulf investors bring patient capital, global networks and experience in infrastructure development. To compete with Singapore, Dubai, Europe or the US, India needs predictability above everything else—stable regulation, faster approvals, transparent taxation, robust dispute resolution and investible project pipelines.
The next decade can therefore see Gulf capital move from being an investor in Indian assets to becoming a partner in building India’s infrastructure and economic capacity.
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Q5. For years, Indian companies and investors often looked to Singapore, Dubai or London for sophisticated financial structures. Can GIFT City realistically reverse that flow and make India a global capital-management hub, or are there still regulatory, tax and ecosystem gaps preventing it from becoming a true alternative to Dubai and Singapore?
GIFT City can realistically reverse a meaningful part of India’s historical capital outflow, but becoming a true global capital-management hub will require more than infrastructure and tax incentives. The foundation is clearly being built. IFSCA data shows that cumulative fund commitments in GIFT-IFSC crossed US$45 billion by June 2026, while the number of fund-management entities increased to 235. That demonstrates that global and domestic institutions are beginning to see GIFT as a credible platform.
The next stage is about ecosystem depth global-quality legal and tax certainty, ease of cross-border transactions, deeper capital markets, specialist talent, efficient dispute resolution and consistency across regulators. Recent concerns around overlapping reporting requirements also show why regulatory clarity matters.
I would therefore see GIFT City not as a replacement for Dubai or Singapore overnight, but as India’s strategic bridge to global capital. If the regulatory framework continues to mature and the ecosystem develops around it, GIFT can increasingly allow Indian-origin capital, global investors and Indian businesses to structure transactions closer to home rather than automatically looking offshore.
Q6. Rather than asking which asset class will deliver the highest return, if you were given ₹10,000 crore with the mandate to solve one major financing bottleneck for India's next decade of growth, would you deploy it into affordable housing, urban infrastructure, redevelopment, logistics, stressed projects or something else, and why?
If I had ₹10,000 crore and the mandate was to solve one major financing bottleneck rather than maximise returns, I would focus on urban redevelopment and the financing of existing city infrastructure, with affordable and mid-income housing embedded within that strategy.
India’s next phase of urbanisation will increasingly be about making existing cities more productive rather than simply building new ones. The World Bank estimates that India’s urban population could reach nearly 800 million by 2050, creating enormous requirements for housing, transport, utilities and resilient urban infrastructure. At the same time, redevelopment projects often face a financing gap because they involve complex land titles, multiple stakeholders and long execution periods.
Patient, structured capital can bridge that gap. I would use the ₹10,000 crore as catalytic capital combining senior and structured credit with selective equity and partnering with municipalities, developers and institutional investors. The objective would be to unlock much larger pools of private capital around each rupee deployed.
The biggest opportunity is not funding one more project; it is creating repeatable financing models for India’s urban transformation.
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Q7. Looking ahead over the next 10 to 15 years, what do you think will surprise the general public most about how Indian cities, housing, and commercial spaces are Evolving?
The biggest surprise will be that the Indian city of the future will not simply be larger it will be fundamentally more mixed, connected and institutionalised. The traditional separation between residential, commercial, retail and logistics zones will increasingly blur as cities become more compact and transit-oriented. We will also see redevelopment become as important as greenfield construction.
Technology will change how buildings are designed, operated and financed. Data centres, digital infrastructure, flexible offices, healthcare, education and experience-led retail will become increasingly important components of the urban real estate ecosystem. At the same time, climate resilience will move from being an ESG consideration to becoming a core investment criterion.
The scale of the opportunity is enormous. The World Bank estimates that India’s urban population could almost double from 480 million in 2020 to 951 million by 2050, while more than 144 million additional homes may be required by 2070. So the next 10–15 years will be less about constructing isolated buildings and more about creating integrated urban ecosystems. The winners will be those who combine capital, infrastructure, technology and livability rather than treating real estate as merely a physical asset.
Conclusion: Financing India's Future Will Require More Than Capital
India's next phase of economic growth will be determined not merely by the volume of investment it attracts, but by how effectively that capital is channelled into productive assets, resilient infrastructure and sustainable urban development.
As this conversation highlights, the country's financial ecosystem is gradually moving towards greater domestic capital participation, more sophisticated credit structures and deeper institutional involvement. Artificial intelligence offers opportunities to enhance financial efficiency, but experienced human judgment, strong governance and accountability will remain essential to responsible lending.
The rising influence of domestic investors also signals an important evolution in India's investment landscape. While international capital will continue to play a meaningful role, greater domestic participation can strengthen financial resilience and support long-term capital formation. Meanwhile, private credit and GIFT City represent opportunities to deepen financial markets, provided transparency, regulatory clarity and investor confidence evolve alongside them.
Beyond financial markets, the conversation brings attention to an equally important challenge: financing India's urban transformation. With cities expected to accommodate hundreds of millions of additional residents over the coming decades, the need for redevelopment, affordable housing, transport networks and climate-resilient infrastructure will only intensify.
Ultimately, India's growth story will depend on its ability to connect capital with long-term development priorities. The institutions, policymakers and investors that successfully combine financial innovation, disciplined risk management and sustainable urban planning will play an important role in shaping the country's economic future.