The Skyline Strategist: How Abhishek Lodha is Reshaping India’s Real Estate Landscape

REAL ESTATE at a height is not just a measure in floors, but, at times, could be symbolic of foresight. From the 36th floor of One Lodha Place, the view from the glass-walled conference room is mesmerising: a panoramic view of the Worli skyline and in the distance, the graceful arc of the Atal Setu bridge spanning the Arabian Sea. India’s longest sea bridge will eventually connect the Coastal Road in the west and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in the east, slashing commute time between the two cities, that also happen to be the two biggest real estate hotspots. Right next to the commercial skyscraper is Lodha World Towers, a 76-floor residential complex, uniquely curvilinear in shape. Overlooking one of his company’s newest landmarks — a testament to two decades of transformation — Abhishek Lodha, leaning back on a chair, is calm, measured, and deliberate in his tone. The 39-year-old is not just recounting the growth of Lodha Developers (formerly known as Macrotech Developers); instead, he is unpacking the story of India’s coming of age in powerful stats: from a low-income nation to one on the brink of middle-income prosperity. “India is going through a once-in-a-lifetime transformation: moving from a low-income to a middle-income country. And whenever that happens, real estate experiences a very long upcycle,” explains the eldest son of Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the founder of what was once a fledgeling real estate business back in the 2000s. He explains that this aspirational transition of millions from farms to factories, from small towns to metros, is fuelling an entire ecosystem. “Housing is not just about buildings. It powers over 400 industries, from cement to steel, from furniture to finance. It’s the multiplier that breathes life into an economy,” Lodha tells Fortune India. The view comes from a scion who today heads a real estate empire — with a market capitalisation of ₹1.17 lakh crore — which is riding the transformational wave. In FY25, Lodha Developers achieved ₹17,630 crore in pre-sales, up 20% from the year before, and generated ₹6,600 crore in operating cash flow, even as it kept net debt below 0.25x, according to Capitaline data. As India’s per capita income inches from around $3,000 to the $4,000-5,000-mark, the threshold at which housing booms have historically ignited in other countries, Lodha believes the best is yet to come. “We’re still a few years away from the take-off. Last year, India sold around 600,000 homes. China, even in its worst year, sold 11 million,” says Lodha, emphasising the potential runway for a sector that’s perceived as the biggest wealth multiplier. The cycle, Lodha argues, is not a six-year blip but a generational transformation: “When the U.S. built its middle class after World War II, that housing boom lasted 25 years. The same cycle played out in China. India is on that path now.” According to Lodha, there is a misconception that India’s housing growth is driven by luxury towers and billionaires buying ₹50-crore apartments. “Less than a 100 homes above ₹50 crore were sold last year across the country. Each becomes a headline, but that’s not the market,” says Lodha. What truly powers the sector are homes priced between ₹1 crore and ₹3 crore, bought by dual-income professionals earning ₹20-40 lakh a year. “Fifteen years ago, that kind of income was rare. Today it’s not. India’s purchasing capacity has grown. These are salaried people, not promoters selling equity. They’re building families, not portfolios,” explains Lodha. It’s this expanding middle- and upper-middle class, he adds, that reflects India’s economic maturity. And for Lodha, serving that segment, with the same quality as the ultra-luxury projects, is the real test of scale and reputation. Not surprising, the company has stayed away from the redevelopment mania that has gripped the island city. When Lodha joined the family business in 2003, it was a modest ₹20-crore company. Two decades later, Lodha Developers is clocking revenues of ₹13,780 crore, a nearly 700-fold rise that mirrors the country’s own trajectory. “It’s not about one market or one project. We now have over 40 projects contributing to sales, and our largest one makes up just 15% of total revenue. We are diversified, disciplined, and obsessed with quality,” insists Lodha. From ultra-premium towers in South Mumbai to expansive integrated townships such as Palava City, Lodha mentions that the group is putting in as much effort into a ₹1-crore home as into a ₹500 crore one. When the company was founded in the early 1980s by his father Mangal Prabhat Lodha, few could have predicted the scale it would one day achieve. But even then, reputation was its bedrock. “Our reputation is tied to our name,” says the scion. He recalls a pivotal moment in 2015 when Lodha Developers chose to rebuild its sales and finance divisions from scratch after internal challenges. “We could have taken shortcuts. We chose to take pain in the short term than compromise on those,” reveals Lodha. Despite being synonymous with Mumbai’s skyline, Lodha Developers’s ambitions are expansive yet constrictive. While its core markets are Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru, Lodha is starting a pilot in Delhi-NCR in 2026. “These four markets, with job creation and well-paying industries, will drive our growth,” he explains. The measured expansion is deliberate. “We can’t be in 20 cities. We know what we can do well, and we stick to that. Our strength lies in people, processes, and culture,” Lodha says. This disciplined approach has insulated the company from the boom-bust volatility that once defined Indian real estate. “Our largest project contributes just 15% to total sales,” he says. “That diversification means resilience.” In a business once notorious for cut-throat rivalries, Lodha’s tone is remarkably collegial. “There’s no rivalry… I meet the CEOs of other top developers. We’re all friends. The Top 5 players have less than 25% share in Mumbai. There’s enough opportunity for everyone,” explains Lodha. When Lodha Developers entered Bengaluru, Lodha personally met Prestige Group’s Irfan Razack for guidance. “He’s my father’s age. It was only natural to seek his wisdom,” says Lodha. The real battle, he believes, is not among the organised players but against inefficiency, inconsistency, and poor quality that still plague the long tail of the sector. “We’re lifting the market together,” he says. “By offering certainty, trust, and better products, we’re helping formalise the industry.” If there’s one thread that runs through Lodha’s leadership philosophy, it’s people. “Our biggest differentiator”, he says, “is culture”. Before joining the family business, Lodha worked at McKinsey in the U.S., consulting Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola and IBM. “That exposure shaped how I think about organisation-building, when I came back in 2003,” says Lodha. He recruited top talent, many of them returning Indians who saw promise in a rising India. “Some of those leaders who joined us in 2005 are still with us today,” he says proudly. The talent quotient only meant that execution was not just about construction but about mindset. “The same contractor can work for multiple developers but deliver different results. Why? Because culture drives quality. We value long-term customer relationships over short-term sales,” he says. In 2023, the Lodha family gifted nearly 20% of the company’s equity, that is, a quarter of their personal wealth, to the Lodha Foundation, a philanthropic trust focussed on national development. “The idea is not unique. It’s inspired by the same spirit that drives institutions such as the Tata Trusts. We owe our success to this country. It’s our duty to give back — not as charity, but as service to India’s future,” says Lodha. The foundation’s flagship initiative, the Lodha Mathematical Sciences Institute, opened in 2024 with Fields Medal winner Manjul Bhargava and academic leader Kumar Murty at the helm. “We want to nurture what I call ‘caring geniuses’. Talent that’s brilliant, but also driven by purpose,” says Lodha. His belief in national service runs deep. His grandfather Gumanmal Lodha, a former Chief Justice and Member of Parliament, taught him to “do whatever you do, but do it well”. His father chose to enter public service full-time instead of building the real estate business. “That’s the value system I grew up with. Work hard, but for something larger than yourself,” he says. For all his achievements, Lodha speaks of destiny and luck as much as leadership and intelligence. “We tend to overvalue effort,” he says with a smile. “But timing, blessings, and destiny matter just as much. I’ve been very fortunate.” As a leader, he believes three qualities are essential: humility, intelligence, and hard work. “You need all three to come together because ultimately, if you are exhibiting those traits, then you learn what your strengths are. You learn where you’re not so strong because none of us can be [perfect], right?” says Lodha. Looking ahead, he is bullish on India’s long-term housing story. By FY31, Lodha Developers aims to double its size, reaching ₹50,000 crore in annual pre-sales and ₹1,500 crore in annuity income, while sustaining RoE of 20%. Of all of Lodha’s developments, none encapsulates his vision better than Palava, a 4,500-acre township east of Mumbai. Once dismissed as a “peripheral suburb,” Palava is now emerging as one of India’s largest privately developed cities. With new infrastructure, including the Mulund-Airoli-Palava freeway and proximity to the Navi Mumbai International Airport, the project holds immense revenue potential. Besides, Lodha Developers is also scaling up its facilities management business, serving a 70,000-household captive base, powered by its digital BelleVie app, which supports community services, home commerce, and third-party integrations. In Mumbai’s Metropolitan Region, Lodha holds a 10% market share, making it the largest player. It is the third-largest developer in Pune, and has entered a growth phase in Bengaluru, adding over 2.7 million sq. ft in Q1FY26. In just over two decades, the company has evolved from a family-run builder into India’s largest listed real estate developer, with ₹1.1 lakh crore of pre-sales and over ₹1 lakh crore of collections since FY14. The opportunity, Lodha believes, is not in chasing luxury alone but in meeting India’s rising aspirations with quality, trust, and design excellence. “Homes are not consumption; they are wealth-creation vehicles. When home prices rise steadily, national wealth rises,” says Lodha. Fortune India is now on WhatsApp! Get the latest updates from the world of business and economy delivered straight to your phone. Subscribe now.

The Skyline Strategist: How Abhishek Lodha is Reshaping India’s Real Estate Landscape

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