Industry analysts feel that private equity funds prefer to invest in completed commercial real estate projects instead of taking risk by investing in new projects.

Some experts opine that funds are smartly mitigating their risks by investing in completed properties like IT parks rather than investing in projects starting from scratch.

According to Shobhit Agarwal, Managing Director, Capital Markets, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), ready to move in' offices make for good investment from a classic PE standpoint. Most of these buildings started construction in 2006-07 and are ready for delivery now.

They make for great investable grade (since they have) single titles and very good tenants. They are therefore attractive for foreign buyers. Such deals are allowed in SEZs and industrial parks, Agarwal said.

Recently, a group of realty PE funds, including Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Embassy Property Developments, GIC Special Investments, and HDFC Property Fund, invested $368 million in Vrindavan Tech Village, the large IT park on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Also, Blackstone invested $82.6 million in Eon Free Zone, a special economic zone (SEZ) near Pune, developed by Panchshil Realty, a Pune-based real estate company.