Indian real estate law is among the most complex property law systems in the world — layered with colonial-era legislation, post-independence land reform acts, state-specific revenue laws, RERA (2016), the Registration Act, the Transfer of Property Act, the Benami Transactions Act, and more recently the PMLA as it applies to real estate intermediaries and transactions. A title that appears clean may carry undisclosed encumbrances, unregistered family settlements, agricultural land conversion defects, or adverse possession claims. A RERA-registered project may have construction violations, approval lapses, or escrow fund deficiencies that the registration does not reveal.
For commercial real estate — office complexes, warehousing, data centres, and industrial parks — the legal framework adds FDI regulations, SEBI REIT regulations, InvIT structuring, and the specific infrastructure financing requirements of lenders ranging from commercial banks to infrastructure debt funds and overseas development finance institutions. GP's real estate practice covers all of this — from the initial land acquisition and development agreement through the financing, construction, lettings, and ultimate exit or REIT monetisation.
For NRI and overseas investors — one of GP's primary client groups — real estate in India requires simultaneous FEMA compliance, RERA verification, and a tax analysis that the investor's overseas adviser cannot provide. GP advises NRI buyers on every dimension of an Indian real estate purchase: the permitted investment categories under FEMA, the repatriation rights on sale, the income tax on rental income, and the capital gains tax and indexation on the eventual exit.
From title due diligence and JDA structuring through RERA compliance, financing, REIT monetisation, and NRI investment — a complete real estate legal capability in one practice.
Thirty-year title search covering the revenue records, registered documents, court records, and encumbrance certificates that establish whether title is clear, marketable, and unencumbered. Identification of agricultural land conversion defects, missing prior sale deeds, unregistered family settlements, adverse possession risks, and Benami Transactions Act exposure. For large land assemblies, GP coordinates multi-parcel due diligence across multiple revenue jurisdictions simultaneously.
Learn More →Structuring and drafting of Joint Development Agreements between landowners and developers — revenue-share versus area-share models, development rights assignment, construction timelines and completion obligations, RERA registration of the JDA project, and dispute resolution mechanisms. For PE fund-backed developers, structuring the JV between the fund, the developer entity, and the landowner to align interests, protect the fund's rights against construction risk, and ensure RERA compliance throughout. GST and stamp duty implications of each JDA structure are assessed before the agreement is executed.
Learn More →RERA project registration across all state jurisdictions — Maharashtra MahaRERA, Karnataka KRERA, Delhi DRERA, Tamil Nadu TNRERA. Compliance with the 70% escrow requirement, quarterly progress reports, disclosure obligations, and buyer agreement standardisation under RERA. RERA agent registration for real estate agents. Defence before RERA Authorities and Appellate Tribunals where buyers have filed complaints for delayed possession, deficiency of service, or misrepresentation. RERA compliance audits for ongoing projects.
Learn More →Structuring and legal documentation for Real Estate Investment Trusts and Infrastructure Investment Trusts — contribution of assets to the REIT/InvIT, SPV documentation, SEBI registration and regulatory compliance, trust deed, investment management agreement, and unit holder rights. For acquirers of REIT or InvIT units, legal due diligence on the underlying asset pool. For infrastructure assets — roads, renewable energy, transmission lines, ports — InvIT structuring as a monetisation mechanism and as an acquisition structure for overseas investors.
Learn More →FEMA compliance for NRI and OCI purchases of Indian residential and commercial property — permitted categories of investment, repatriation rights on sale, TDS obligations of the buyer, and FEMA reporting requirements. FDI in real estate — the permitted sectors, the minimum capitalisation and lock-in requirements for foreign investors, and the exit routes available. For Australian super funds, Singaporean family offices, and GCC sovereign vehicles investing in Indian real estate — the full legal and compliance framework from one team that understands both the Indian and the overseas regulatory requirements.
Learn More →Title disputes before civil courts and High Courts. RERA complaints and appeals. Specific performance suits for breach of sale agreement. Possession and injunction applications. Landlord-tenant disputes under rent control legislation and the Transfer of Property Act. Partition and family property disputes. Recovery of earnest money and advance payments. For developers facing insolvency — real estate IBC proceedings before the NCLT, including homebuyer claims under Section 7 and the Supreme Court's homebuyer protection framework.
Learn More →An NRI purchasing residential property in India faces a legal process that is unlike any property purchase in Australia, Singapore, or the UAE. The TDS obligation falls on the buyer — 1% if the seller is a resident, 20% (plus surcharge and cess) if the seller is a non-resident. FEMA governs what the NRI can buy and what can be repatriated. RERA registration must be verified. The agreement for sale must protect the buyer's rights against construction risk. And the entire transaction must be completed through a power of attorney if the NRI cannot be present — which creates its own documentation and notarisation requirements. GP manages all of this for NRI buyers from a single point of contact, regardless of whether the property is in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, or Chennai.
A RERA complaint for delayed possession can result in an order directing interest payment to the buyer at the RERA rate from the agreed date of possession — which, for large projects with hundreds of buyers filing simultaneously, can produce a liability that threatens the viability of the project. GP's RERA defence practice is built around the argument that is most persuasive to the RERA Authority: the construction milestone defence, the force majeure claim, and the completion and possession documentation that demonstrates when possession was actually offered and whether the buyer unreasonably refused to take possession. For developers managing multiple concurrent RERA complaints, GP provides coordinated defence across all complaints simultaneously.
A homebuyer who has paid for a flat in a stalled real estate project is a financial creditor under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code — by virtue of the Supreme Court's decision in Pioneer Urban Land. This means homebuyers can file an insolvency petition against the developer under Section 7 IBC if the developer defaults on its possession obligation. For projects where RERA proceedings have not produced results, IBC is frequently the most effective remedy. GP has filed and managed Section 7 IBC petitions by homebuyer groups — coordinating collective action by multiple buyers, securing resolution professional appointments that protect the asset, and pursuing plans that deliver possession or refund.
Most real estate law firms handle the conveyancing. The GST, the stamp duty optimisation, the capital gains analysis, the FEMA compliance, and the RERA regulatory position are referred to separate advisers — creating four separate opinions on a single transaction. GP handles all of this from one team. The conveyancing lawyer, the tax CA, and the FEMA specialist are in the same office, working on the same transaction, with a single consistent position on all regulatory dimensions simultaneously.
Infrastructure in India — roads, renewable energy, ports, transmission — is increasingly financed through a combination of project finance from Indian lenders, InvIT structures listed on Indian exchanges, and overseas investors (Australian super funds, GCC sovereign vehicles, Singapore family offices) accessing the InvIT as a yield instrument. GP advises across the entire capital stack — from the project financing documentation through the InvIT structuring to the FEMA and DTAA compliance for the overseas investor. This end-to-end capability is the reason infrastructure developers and overseas infrastructure investors both come to GP.
For the substantial NRI buyer market — Indian professionals in Sydney, Singapore, Dubai, and London who want to buy property in India — GP provides the Indian legal advice and the corridor-specific regulatory advice from one team. The Australian-based NRI does not need to explain Indian real estate to their Australian lawyer. GP's team in India knows both the Indian and Australian dimensions — FEMA compliance, FIRB implications, tax residency impact on the rental income, and repatriation rights — from practitioners who have worked in both jurisdictions.
Complete confidentiality maintained.
Advised a renewable energy developer on the contribution of a Rs.2,200 crore portfolio of operational solar and wind assets to an InvIT structure. GP handled the trust documentation, SPV reorganisation, SEBI InvIT registration, asset contribution agreements, existing lender consent and restructuring of project finance facilities into the InvIT structure, and the private placement to institutional investors including two Singapore-based infrastructure funds and one Australian superannuation fund. The InvIT was registered with SEBI and the initial distribution was made within nine months of the first instruction.
Managed coordinated MahaRERA defence for a Mumbai residential developer facing 340 simultaneous complaints from buyers in a stalled project — arising from an 18-month construction delay caused by a subcontractor insolvency and COVID-19 restrictions. GP's defence strategy grouped complaints by possession date, established the force majeure timeline with supporting documentation, and negotiated possession agreements with a significant proportion of complainants before the hearing. The MahaRERA Authority accepted the force majeure argument for the COVID period, reducing the interest liability from Rs.28 crore to Rs.6 crore across all remaining complaints.
Advised a Sydney-based NRI on the purchase of a Rs.4.2 crore residential flat in Mumbai — managing the complete transaction remotely. GP conducted the title due diligence (identifying and resolving a prior unregistered family settlement on the seller's title), verified RERA registration and escrow compliance, drafted and arranged the notarisation and apostille of the power of attorney in Australia, calculated the TDS obligation on the seller's capital gains and managed the Form 26QB filing, and handled the registration of the conveyance. The buyer completed the transaction without a single trip to India.
The practice is led by a senior real estate lawyer with experience across residential, commercial, and infrastructure asset classes — supported by dedicated RERA compliance specialists in each of our four office cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai), a tax CA team for GST, stamp duty, and capital gains analysis, and FEMA specialists for NRI and overseas investor transactions. For infrastructure and InvIT work, the practice coordinates with GP's Banking and Finance practice for the financing documentation and with our International Tax practice for the overseas investor dimension.
For NRI clients, GP provides a single point of contact who manages the entire transaction — from the first call through to the registered title documents — regardless of whether the NRI is in Sydney, Singapore, Dubai, or London.
FEMA permitted categories, RERA verification, TDS obligations, power of attorney requirements, registration, and repatriation rights — everything an NRI needs to know before committing to a purchase in India. Corridor-specific chapters for Australia, Singapore, UAE, and UK.
Read Guide →The GST treatment of JDAs — area-share versus revenue-share, the point of taxation, the value of the deemed supply, and the input tax credit position — explained for developers and landowners who need to reassess existing and proposed JDA structures.
Read Bulletin →Whether you are a developer, an NRI buyer, an overseas infrastructure investor, or facing a RERA dispute — our team responds within 24 hours with integrated advice across property law, tax, FEMA, and RERA compliance.
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