Yields on commercial property in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore were among the highest in the world, Chesterton Meghraj, a global real estate consulting group, said in a survey.

The yield in property is calculated as the rental revenues less maintenance costs.

In technical terms, the yield was "the capitalised value of the net annual rental, that's annual rent minus any property tax, maintenance and other outgoings", the survey said.

Indian Inc had invested over Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) in real estate between 2002 and 2004, the consultancy said. Companies in the software, pharmaceuticals and telecom sectors were the largest investors in real estate.

Infosys Technologies, Wipro, TCS, Satyam Computer, Dr Reddy's, Ranbaxy, Reliance Infocomm and Bharti were using land as a vehicle to park their surplus funds.

Multinational corporations like General Electric, Microsoft and Oracle have also been buying across the country. Corporates bought 1,350 acres of land at around Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion) during the last two years in the western region.

Reliance Infocomm, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, Syntel and Veritas acquired 540 acres for Rs 750 crore (Rs 7.50 billion) in Mumbai and Pune during the last one year.

In the northern region, Hughes Software, Infosys, Perot Systems, ACC, Bharti, Videocon and Ranbaxy together bought some 140 acres for Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.50 billion).

In the south, General Electric, Infosys, Satyam, Intel and Timken purchased 245 acres in Bangalore costing Rs 330 crore (Rs 3.30 billion). Xanasa, Infosys, Polaris, TCS and Wipro procured a total 300 acres in Chennai, while Microsoft, Oracle, and others purchased 135 acres in Hyderabad for Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million).