HDFC Property Fund, the property investment unit of India's Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd., is planning to invest in commercial office and housing development projects through a US$500 million fund that it looks to raise, India's Mint reported.

According to the report, HDFC Property's new fund will raise the amount from overseas investors and a company executive, who requested not to be identified, said the fund will have a life of about 10 years.

The Feb. 23 report noted that the new fund will be HDFC Property's third overseas fund following the US$750 million and US$350 million funds that were raised in 2007-2008 and 2014-2015, respectively. The report added that the fund hopes to exit its previous investments first and return investors' capital within 2018. The unnamed executive said HDFC made a recent exit from a 4.20 billion-Indian-rupee investment in a project backed by Kalpataru Group in Thane, India.

HDFC vice chairman and CEO Keki Mistry said the plan to invest in the real estate market comes as the company sees a lot of opportunities in the property sector, an area that the company considers its core competence, according to the paper.

As of Feb. 22, US$1 was equivalent to 64.98 Indian rupees.