Jamnabai Narsee International School signs Rs 800 crore Juhu lease deal

Jamnabai Narsee International School has signed a 30-year built-to-suit agreement with Mumbai-based charitable trust Shri Bhanbai Nenshi Mahila Vidyalaya to develop a new international school campus in Juhu in a lease transaction valued at about Rs 800 crore over the tenure through rental payments.

The transaction, among the country's largest education leasing deals, covers 2.36 acres of land reserved for education and playgrounds, along with a campus to be built by the trust, according to documents accessed by ET.

The trust will develop a 300,000 sq ft campus to the school's specifications before handing it over for operations.


“The agreement is structured as a long-term built-to-suit arrangement under which the school building will be developed to JNIS' specifications before being occupied by the institution,” said one of the persons familiar with the development.

The proposed campus will offer education from kindergarten to Class XII under the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and include academic blocks, sports facilities and dedicated performing arts spaces.

It will complement the school's existing Juhu campuses, which offer the IB and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) curricula, expanding its presence in one of Mumbai's most land-constrained education markets, where large contiguous institutional land parcels rarely become available.

ET's emailed queries to Shri Bhanbai Nenshi Mahila Vidyalaya and Jamnabai Narsee International School remained unanswered. JLL India, the transaction adviser, declined to comment.

Founded in 1952, Shri Bhanbai Nenshi Mahila Vidyalaya runs a girls' hostel and education support programmes in the Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme. The trust owns the land being redeveloped for institutional use through its partnership with the school, in line with its objective of supporting education and welfare for girls from the Kutchi Jain community.

The deal reflects the growing use of asset-light expansion models by educational institutions, allowing schools to add capacity without committing significant capital to land acquisition.

The transaction reflects a broader shift in India's education real estate market, with schools increasingly adopting long-term built-to-suit agreements to expand without committing significant capital to land acquisition. The model allows educational institutions to preserve capital for academic operations while enabling landowners, including charitable trusts, to monetise their assets without giving up ownership.

The trend is particularly evident in land-constrained cities such as Mumbai, where large education-use land parcels are scarce. Juhu, home to several established schools and premium residential developments, remains one of the city's most sought-after locations for educational institutions.