India may become the largest market for us in 10 years: Donald Trump Junior

After lingering for the past few years, ultra-luxury real estate major The Trump Organisation is finally getting aggressive in India. Former US President Donald Trump, also himself a noted realtor, was known to push his organisation to build for uber-luxury residential apartments, villas and hotels, and he has India prominently placed on its future growth plans.

Donald Trump Junior, executive vice president of The Trump Organisation and the son of the flamboyant former US President, told Business Today in an exclusive interaction that multiple new projects are in the works that may further expand the business in a market that is now booming with rich millennials.

According to him, while India has already become the largest market for the group outside of the US, it may overtake the US market in coming years.

“India is already the largest market for us outside of the US. We have more number of properties here than anywhere else in the world (except the US),” said Trump Junior, adding that it is possible that by 2033 India will become the largest market for Trump Organisation overtaking the US market.

Since Donald Trump assumed the US presidency in 2016, the group decided to restrict its business interests as it wanted to avoid any allegations of conflict of interest. While, since 2020, its expansion plans remained muted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That, however, is now over and the New York-based group is finally unfolding its expansion plans,

Instrumental in bringing the Trump brand to the country some 10 years ago, Trump Junior feels a direct comparison between the two markets is unfair at the moment, given its exposure the US market is much longer than in India.

“It's not fair to compare our India presence with the US, where we have built hotels, gold course, residential, among other projects, over the last 40 years. So far, we were only focused on luxury high-rise developments in India. There is a lot of catching up to be done. But in terms of new stuff, India is surely at the forefront. It is possible that India may become the largest (in next ten years),” he told Business Today.

Another key difference between the markets in India and the US that remains, is while its home market the group directly invests in real estate projects, in India it primarily lends its brand to the local developer partner - Tribeca Developers. While nearly half a dozen new Trump properties are now in the pipeline that are expected to be launched in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune, over the next few quarters, the Trump Organisation will continue to follow the partnership model in India.

“Real estate is a locals’ game. To bring in the staff, the local knowledge and expertise is something different. We don’t have the ego of thinking that if we can do it in New York, we can do it in India. In fact, each territory in India requires a lot of local expertise. This system (of having a local partner) makes a lot more sense for us. With Tribeca, we already have a team that’s focused on quality and marketing,” he said.