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Company Voice: Rx Propellant, India

  • tsv-time
  • Real Estate
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Rx Propellant is a leading life sciences real estate platform based in India. It builds and operates research and manufacturing environments for life sciences businesses with sites in three clusters across India. The sector needs sustainable and uninterruptible infrastructure. Actis acquired Rx Propellant in 2022, with a plan to invest $200m as part of a buy and build strategy.
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What makes the Rx Propellant proposition so attractive?

We create specialist research and manufacturing environments, to support intense research programmes for life sciences companies. The buildings are purpose built and designed to suit the needs of life sciences companies looking to scale operations quickly and sustainably. These facilities, by their nature, tend to be energy intensive. So, we have a laser sharp focus on sustainability and reliability. We work with industry to make our environments more sustainable and future-facing.

What’s next for you and the team?

Actis took an existing business and invested to improve it. We were asset light at that point. The plan is now to make it asset heavy, and build on our brand, people, tenant relationships and assets. We want to create up to five clusters across India. We are a preferred supplier for life sciences companies already in or coming to India. We bring a unique expertise to companies looking for this specialist real estate, but more than that we also offer an operationally efficient environment. We allow them to focus on their research and we take care of everything else.

How has the Actis involvement helped Rx Propellant?

We’re on a journey to being a full-service provider. We’re building an integrated business with the ability to provide an end-to-end solution for tenants. Actis being a global player and having such a large footprint in Asia means there is more expertise and cross-domain knowledge we can draw on. Over the last two years working with Actis, the most impressive inputs have been on sustainability. As we implement our business plan, we’re getting advice and support on world-class operations, business practices and standards. This will help us remain competitive as an industry leader in India.

We have been able to draw on the Actis energy team’s experience with renewable power in India. That helps in many ways. Offering renewable energy attracts tenants who themselves are committed to a sustainable supply chain. Renewable power is also cheaper, so there are cost savings. It’s a compelling proposition overall. Beyond renewable energy, they also connect us with experts in several different areas to help with other challenges.

Do you have examples of this in action?

Life sciences buildings are heavy users of heating, ventilation and air conditioning infrastructure. And Actis has a platform for district cooling services in Dubai, Emicool. As the scale of projects we undertake grows, we will need that district cooling expertise. And Actis is also building an industrial real estate platform in India, where one of the objectives will be to undertake large planned industrial cluster developments in India. At some point, depending on location matching, there could be an opportunity to co-locate facilities with industrial ones. That would be a win-win in terms of cohabiting and sharing efficiencies.
rx propellant
rx propellant
  • Actis Perspective

Ashish Singh

Partner, Head of India and SE Asia, Real Estate, Actis, Mumbai

How is the One Actis model helping Rx Propellant?

Actis is a leading global player in sustainable infrastructure. So the team at Rx Propellant can rely on our dedicated global sustainability team, working together to build an industry-leading position in sustainability. Across our different teams, we have invested in India for over two decades and built businesses here, creating value for investors and management teams. We leverage that collective experience to replicate the same success for Rx Propellant. Being a major player in renewable power in India means we bring deep subject expertise. Life sciences corporations are heavy users of energy and, as Vishal says, renewable energy not only increases sustainability, it also reduces costs. Our expertise will be useful in structuring cost-effective renewable power solutions for Rx Propellant’s tenants and help to make the overall offering more compelling.

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