BJP senior leader and founder of city-based realty firm Lodha Group, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, has emerged as the richest real estate entrepreneur of the country according to a recent survey.
A survey conducted by Hurun Report and GROHE India titled GROHE Hurun India Real Estate Rich List 2018 revealed that 62-year-old Lodha is the richest Indian real estate entrepreneur with the total wealth of Rs 27,150 crore.
Lodha, who was at the second position last year according to the Hurun report with a wealth of Rs 18,610 crore, has jumped a notch up, while interestingly, DLF's Kushal Pal Singh who emerged at the first position last year with a wealth of Rs 23,460 crore, has not featured in this year's top 10 list.
Lodha is followed by Jitendra Virwani of Embassy Group with total wealth of Rs 23,160 crore at the second position and Rajiv Singh of DLF at third with a wealth of Rs 17,690 crore.
Both the Hiranandani brothers, Niranjan of Hiranandani Group and Surendra of House of Hiranandani feature at position six with the wealth of Rs 7,880 crore.
Similarly, billionaire brothers Manoj Menda and Raj Menda have featured at ninth position with a wealth of Rs 5,900 crore.
According to the report, the total wealth of top 100 Indians in real estate sector stood at Rs 236,610 crore or USD 32.7 billion, up 27 per cent from Rs 186,700 crore or USD 28.6 billion in 2017.
"Mumbai is the most preferred city of residence for real estate tycoons in India with 35 names hailing from the city, followed by Delhi (22) and Bengaluru (21)," it said.
The list, which relates to those born and brought up in India, was compiled on the basis of the net worth of living Indians as on September 30, 2018, 16:17 IST Thursday, 22 November 2018 when the rate of exchange to the US dollar stood at Rs 72.46.
Nearly 59 per cent of the names featured in the report are first generation entrepreneurs, it said.
While the average age of the participants is 59 years, 24-year-old Kunal Menda of RMZ has emerged as the youngest richest entrepreneur and Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi of East India Hotels the eldest being of 89 years.
Anand Piramal founded Piramal Realty also storms in the top 10 list with wealth of Rs 6,380 crore.
Only four names aged below 40 years were featured in the list indicating that the experienced and long-standing names build wealth in the long-run from this sector in India.
The report also revealed nine richest women entrepreneur who featured in the list with Renuka Talwar of DLF being ranked at 19.
Among the 10 debutants in the list, Rameshwar Rao Jupally of My Home Constructions ranked the highest at 14 among the top 100.
Commenting on the launch of the GROHE Hurun India Real Estate Rich List 2018, Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun Report India, said "realty sector in India has always been among the key wealth creators in the country.
It is also an industry that demands patience and persistence with an average age of the participants on the list hovering around 59 years and accounting for 59 per cent of the first generation entrepreneurs."
He further said India perhaps accounts for the largest population of homeless people in the world and aptly, the government is embarking on its most ambitious housing programme.
At the same time, the Indian economy is back on track thereby improving the demand for real estate, across premium, residential, office and commercial segments. In the coming years, value creation in the wake of greater transparency and institutionalisation in the sector is expected to take it to an orbit, he said.
Speaking at the launch, Audrey Yeo, Vice President, Marketing, GROHE Asia, said, "Indian real estate is maturing as home buyers are more informed and quality conscious thereby demanding premium better living spaces. Also, with RERA, the transparency and quality assurance of the projects has moved to the developers."
He further noted that India continues to reap its demographic dividend with millions of young, ambitious people with high purchasing power fuelling the consumption across industries.
