One might have to go back to the iconic anti-colonialist Mahatma Gandhi to recall an Indian leader who has garnered as much global attention as India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi — certainly among the world’s business classes, anyway. Investors of all stripes — including those with eyes on institutional-quality property — are edging forward in their seats to examine the charismatic Modi, with high hopes he will deliver better infrastructure and a more pro-business environment to India and its 1.25 billion residents.

As if the task of upgrading India’s sclerotic infrastructure and slicing legendary red tape was not Herculean enough, Modi faces an edgy central bank, the Reserve Bank of India. Almost alone in the world, India faces an inflation rate that many feel is too high — the consumer price index was up 6.3 percent in September, on an annual rate — in sharp contrast to the deflation spectre that stalks Europe and Japan.

Higher inflation in the