Donald Trump calls India a ‘Dead Economy’ but runs his family company here, earning crores from the Real Estate Business | All you need to know
New Delhi: Escalating his tariff offensive against India, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped an additional 25 per cent duty–doubling it to 50 per cent–on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil. The move that is likely to hit sectors such as textiles, marine and leather exports hard was slammed by India as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”. With this action singling out New Delhi for the Russian oil imports, India will attract the highest US tariff of 50 per cent along with Brazil.
It is important to note that the US President Donald Trump often refers to India as a “dead economy.” He has expressed strong displeasure over India’s trade relations with Russia and China. However, for his family’s company, The Trump Organization, India has become its largest market outside the United States. The Trump Organization has been consistently expanding its operations in India’s real estate market.
Since Trump first became President of the United States, his company’s real estate business in India has tripled. Citing records, the Indian Express has reported that The Trump Organization partnered with several major builders in India and earned ₹175 crore from seven projects in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and Gurugram.
“It’s not a punishment for India, but it will also burden American consumers”
Ever since Trump became the US President for the second time on November 5, 2024, his company, in collaboration with its Indian partner Tribeca Developers, has launched six new projects across Gurugram, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida, and Bengaluru. These projects collectively span 8 million square feet of land. Out of these, three projects — in Pune, Gurugram, and Hyderabad — have already been initiated this year. Work is currently underway on 4.3 million square feet under these projects.
Business to Expand to 11 Million Square Feet
In 2012, The Trump Organization announced its first project in India, and by the time these projects are completed, Trump’s total real estate business in India will grow from 3 million to 11 million square feet. According to Tribeca Developers, these projects could be sold for at least ₹15,000 crore. Tribeca Developers, led by Kalpesh Mehta, is the official partner of The Trump Organization in India.
The Company Doesn’t Invest Money Directly
An interesting fact is that The Trump Organization does not invest money directly in construction projects. It merely lends its brand name and, in return, charges a licensing fee or development fee, or takes a 3% to 5% share of the total project sales. Such properties are luxury developments, and because they carry the Trump name, their market value tends to be significantly higher.
Who is working on these projects in India?
In India, major companies working on these projects include Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Lodha Group, M3M Group, Panchshil Realty, IRA Infra, and Unimark.
For this report, The Indian Express reached out to Reliance Group, Tribeca Developers, M3M Group, Unimark Group, Panchshil Group, and The Trump Organization, but none of them responded. Lodha Group stated that it currently has no plans for any Trump-branded projects.
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