Want a swanky address for your start-up? Need personalised attendance to take a client’s call from anywhere in the world?

Just pay Rs 5,500 a month.

Sounds incredible? But it’s happening right here, and now.

As the Indian economy grows at a scorching pace, spawning new ventures across the country, demand for commercial space is growing, too.

But space crunch and often steep rates are coming in the way of newcomers. To cut the entry barrier, real estate companies have started churning out innovative packages tailor-made for budding busi- nessmen.

For instance, Regus Group, the world’s largest provider of outsourced workplaces, has come out with the concept of “virtual office”.

This is how it works:

A young entrepreneur can get a prestigious business address, as well as access to office and meeting room space, without hiring staff or committing to a long-term lease.

The entrepreneur can operate his business from a remote location, yet all calls made to his new address will be answered in his or the com-pany’s name while he gets the feedback via SMS. All for Rs 5,500 a month.

Among the services on offer are connecting calls to anywhere in the world, relaying of messages, confidential handling of incoming and outgoing faxes and collecting and forwarding mail. Some of these services, however, come at an extra cost.

Such offerings are innovative extensions of what is generally known as business centre services. Regus is not the first one to venture into the sector. Homegrown brand DBS runs such centres across the country. Moreover, most star hotels provide this service as well.

Regus has taken up a 14,000-square-foot space near Minto Park, its 8th in the country, where it will offer business centre services, including the “virtual office”.

Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai are some of the other cities where Regus has business centres. The company is now planning to enter small towns also.

Experts feel the convenience of the arrangement will increase the demand for such outsourced offices in the country, but more so in the city.

“Business centre development has already picked up in other cities. It has great potential. We expect the demand to grow substantially here, too,” says Abhijit Das, head of property consultant Trammel Crow Meghraj in Calcutta.

One reason is such business centres give flexibility to users who are not planning a sizeable investment in real estate to begin with. A virtual office gives them the option to choose a space for a few months, days or even a few hours.

The pre-established infrastructure allows companies to enter a market with minimal start-up cost.

While the target is mainly small and medium enterprises and start-ups, a number of big companies also work out of such business centres if they want a small operation.

“Some may want to start small to test the waters. They work from business centres. Some may be waiting for a big property to come up but want to start operating. They also look at such centres,” Das explains.

The concept is also handy for companies looking to set up base for a short period.

Madhusudan Thakur, country general manager of the Regus Group, believes the immediate requirement for commercial space in India is about 30 million square feet.

“About 80 per cent of that will be taken up by large offices. The rest could be the market for the services that we offer,” he says.

Thakur, however, prefers the tag hospitality company to real estate player.

“We are rendering service and not space,” is how he puts it.