MUMBAI, July 5 (Reuters) - The head of U.S.-based

industrial real estate developer Panattoni has urged India to

streamline its land acquisition processes which he said make it

difficult for developers to cash in on a warehousing boom in the

country.

Foreign and domestic real estate developers are building

more warehouses in India to cater to growing storage demand of

companies, but land acquisition is often a sticking point in a

country where multiple farmers or other people can own a piece

of land, and transfer processes are complex and take time.

While India offers opportunities for expansion, "the biggest

challenge is land itself - permissions (and) availability of

data to acquire land," said Robert Dobrzycki, CEO of Panattoni,

which owns large industrial real estate assets in the U.S.,

Canada and Europe and entered the Indian market in 2022.

"We would like to do more and more. We would like to

maximize the presence. But we are usually limited by external

factors" like land availability, Dobrzycki told Reuters in an

interview on Friday.

Panattoni has plans to invest $100 million annually in India

over the next 2-3 years and is hopeful of signing 3-4 land

transactions in 2024. It has previously said it took eight

months to complete acquisition formalities for its first complex

near New Delhi where construction will start in the coming

weeks.

India's infrastructure drive fuels high demand for land,

leaving few plots in good locations, and surging prices hit

developers' returns as rentals fall behind, executives say.

There has been a rush for leased modern warehouse space

which hit a two-year peak in the final quarter of 2023,

according to real estate firm Colliers, as India's economic

growth continues to outstrip many advanced nations.

Panattoni has embarked on a "west-to-east expansion"

starting with India and hopes to also enter Japan, Australia

over the next two years, Dobrzycki added.

As well as Panattoni, a Blackstone Indian joint

venture and U.S.-based Prologis ( PLD ) are also expanding in

India.