this story originally appeared in on aug 7 2014new delhi wealthy individuals looking to buy indias most exclusive homes may not have to fear being shut out of deals being done behind closed doors sothebys is planning to sell about 40 choice properties at list prices of rs 15200 croreamong them a bungalow in lutyens delhi rs 150 crore and private residences inside ancient forts in rajasthan with india emerging as a realestate destination and the number of high networth indians surging the international auction house has prepared a list of marketable and saleable properties expansion into india was one of our core objectives for this year as northern india is one of the most exciting beautiful and fastestgrowing markets in the world with a developing luxury real estate market said philip white president and chief executive officer of sothebys international realty affiliates llc an arm of the auctioneer sothebys has appointed delhibased property advisory firm real pro infra pvt ltd as exclusive master franchisee for 25 years for the purpose real pro has identified the 40 homes to be included in sothebys global portfolio the idea is to make these assets available to international buyers including nris nonresident indians as well as provide access to indian buyers to properties from locations abroad such as dubai and london etc said amit goyal founder director and chief executive officer of real pro infra for sothebys asia is a key focus area due to a rapidly growing luxury market and consumer interest in addition to north india we have also opened in beijing said white to begin with sothebys will act as an intermediary in the buying and selling of expensive assets it declined to give details such as the commission it will charge those engaged in the business say the fee is generally about 12 for such deals this marks a first for the indian luxury real estate market which has primarily been driven by strong regional indian companies and select brokers the growing appetite of indians for items of pleasure and luxury including fancy homes offers a lucrative business opportunity on average wealthy indians park 44 of their investments in real estate while the global average is 24 sothebys to tie up with developers forecasts say that by 2023 only the us china and russia will have more billionaires than india most wealthy indians prefer to buy homes in cities rather than in the countryside although only a fifth of them are considering buying another residence this year estimates by real estate advisory firm knight frank suggest india is in sixth spot in the top 10 countries for billionaires as of 2013 with 60 billionaires thats expected to increase to 119 by 2023 there were 383 centamillionaires those with 100 million in net assets in 2013 and this is likely to double in the next 10 years sothebys research shows that india was among the top 10 countries viewing the list of luxury residential properties available worldwide said goyal who