Clear titles, clear investments: Realty sector eyes big FDI inflows as India nears 100% digitization of land records

As global trade tensions and economic headwinds push investors toward safer markets, India’s real estate sector is set for an FDI boost, thanks to the impending 100 percent digitization of land records by year-end.

According to data from Colliers, the realty sector drew $5.8 billion in FDI in 2023-24. India’s real estate sector is witnessing a shift in capital flows, with domestic institutional investments gaining momentum even as foreign inflows slow. Foreign institutional investments fell 39 percent year-on-year in H1 2025 to $1.6 billion, as global investors stayed cautious amid macroeconomic uncertainties, tight credit conditions, and inflationary pressures.

This pullback dragged overall institutional investments down 15 percent in the same period. Real Estate experts said that these reforms are among the most critical factors for unlocking large-scale foreign investment and ensuring sustainable growth in Indian real estate.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO, India, Middle East and Africa, CBRE, said that for foreign investors, the payoffs are clear. Commercial real estate—offices, logistics, data centers—will see faster land acquisition with digitized land records.

“Bengaluru’s tech corridors and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor work as magnets for multinationals which shows digitized records enable faster land acquisition for Grade-A office complexes,” he said.

Magazine added that residential housing too would benefit, as clear titles will boost luxury and mid-segment projects.

The Centre has set December 2025 as the deadline for nationwide digitization of land ownership records, barring Ladakh and the Northeast. Progress is near complete. Data from the Department of Land Resources shows 372.12 million land records—99.8 percent of the total are digitized. So are 97.3 percent of cadastral maps. Nearly 90 percent of revenue courts are computerized, and all sub-registrar offices now run on digital systems.

Transparent system, easy to raise funds

Magazine said that digitization of land records will create a transparent, tamper-proof system, reducing fraud and aligning India with global standards like Singapore’s e-services or Estonia’s e-Land Register.

Industry experts said that one of India’s biggest pain points is the difficulty of property transactions. This problem affects not just institutions but ordinary citizens as well. The lack of clear, accessible land records makes even basic transactions cumbersome.

“The fallout shows up in courts too. A significant share of pending cases in India are land disputes. Digitization of land records can help reduce such litigation by making ownership clearer and disputes less frequent,” Magazine said.

He said that the benefits of digitised land records go beyond ease of transactions.

“Digitised land data makes it easier to raise funds, value property, secure financing, and build investor trust. Digitized records reduce risks associated with title disputes and fraud, which are significant deterrents and global investors value such certainty,” he said.

Vimal Nadar, National Director and Head of Research, Colliers India, said that digitization of land records aims to modernise record keeping, bring in transparency in ownership, and ensure a more equitable and fair distribution of resources as issues relating to title and related disputes get resolved.

“Clearer land titles significantly improve access to credit with greater scope for institutionalisation. As the boundaries of urban areas expand and peripheral areas emerge as real estate hotspots; Greenfield infrastructure projects and balanced land use become pivotal to support this growth. Thus, the availability of clear and large contiguous land parcels becomes imminent for this growth,” he said.

Nadar said that land being a critical ingredient in the development of real estate will go a long way in stimulating economic growth by enhancing productivity, creating greater employment opportunities and thus leading real estate into its quantum growth phase.