Realty sees accelerated growth post-Covid: Sahiti Group

Hyderabad-based real estate firm Sahiti Group has so far completed construction of over 15 million sft in 20 landmark commercial and residential projects acrossTelangana and Andhra Pradesh. The company is looking forward to build 20 million-sft space in 10 commercial and 10 residential projects over next few years.

Dr Boodati Lakshmi Narayana, Managing Director of the company, spoke to Bizz Buzz on the sidelines of HMTV Business Excellence Awards (BEA) 2021 recently. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 from the hands of Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and National Stock Exchange Director K Narasimha Murthy

How did you feel after receiving the Hmtv BEA 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award?

After receiving the HMTV BEA 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award, I felt as if my years of hard work and dedication had finally paid off. I also believe that this could not have been accomplished without the unwavering support of my family members and team members who work tirelessly to propel Sahiti Group to greater heights of success.

I am thrilled and encouraged to work for the advancement and improvement of our capabilities, as well as to thrive for new opportunities and progress. I also believe that it is important to focus on hardships, challenges, and unpleasant events that you might deal with, as it helps you to reflect better and understand if you are moving in the right direction or not.

So, you can keep doing the right thing and use it to improve your business or industry. Also, I am actively engaged in philanthropy focusing on child welfare and education and health for the poor, food donation and aided Covid survivors. I have recently received 'Covid-Warrior' award by Dadasaheb Phalke Jury as well.

How was your journey from an individual builder to becoming a successful industrialist with two decades of experience in the construction industry?

With a bachelor's degree in engineering and doctorate in real-estate, I started my career as an individual builder in the year 2000. I established Sahiti Group in 2010, and started a new venture Sahiti Infratec Ventures India Pvt Ltd in 2015, further expanding horizons by venturing into residential apartments, villas, shopping malls and office spaces in two Telugu States.

Since inception, Sahiti Group has delivered about 20 impeccable reality projects in residential and commercial segments and another 20 projects underway. The group has acquired large tracts of land and tied up with landowners for new projects such as gated communities, villas, multiplexes, commercial complexes and open plots spread across Hyderabad and Vijayawada.

Sahiti Group has developed itself as one of the fastest growing real-estate developers in South and has earned three ISO certifications along with The Leaders of India 2021 Award, by Marksmen India in collaboration with News18. Some of the renowned projects include Sahiti Sudha Square, Sahiti Sri Signature, Sahiti Mahadev Complex and Sahiti Suryadev Urban Ville.

We have around 2,000 house owners as delighted customers. Our company has helped construct an ecosystem of labour, contractors, material vendors and civil engineers. Along with this, we have successfully helped an Ayurvedic centre called Mystic Wellness to mature and establish itself.

Having made this phenomenal progress in such a short time span, Sahiti Group is committed to quality assurance policies and consistent pursuit of elegance in the field of real estate industry, with a major focus on customer service, accountability, development and 100 per cent expected results.

Could you share some major milestones of your career?

I had a vision to establish something that makes my customers and workers proud to be a part of it. In the beginning, I spent my own resources in the firm, which was difficult because in such situations one may be constantly concerned about return on investment. However, as we started obtaining significant sales, we partnered with government banks to fund our projects.

Talking about the milestones, it was a big task to establish a construction group in Vijayawada which is a small town then relocate to Hyderabad to establish ourselves once again. Secondly, we began as a construction group that would do residential projects only but slowly with time the team felt that we have enough manpower to even take up commercial projects.

The third was to handle or supervise such a big team of about 150 employees. Lastly, amidst the pandemic, we moved to digitisation in order to transform the way we were working before Covid, and in the same light to keep up with the time we shifted our ways and opted for AI and tech-driven platforms for our customers.

What is the current team size? Are you planning to expand in the near future?

The group currently employs 150 people directly and more than 5,000 people indirectly. Through our commitment and passion, we have developed a business empire in South India. We have introduced revolutionary concepts in residential and commercial infrastructure such as mixed-use development projects for highly defined living spaces. We are planning to expand our operations team by 30 per cent.

What are the future plans of the company?

This year, we have achieved sales of more than 400 units in the last three months alone and we are expecting sales of another 500 units in the next three months. At present, we are focusing on our ongoing new commercial projects – Sadhana Arcade in Kondapur, Satya Tech Park in Hitec city, Subradha Forte in Banjara Hills and Swadha in Nanakramguda.

Other than these, we have five ongoing residential projects and two new project launches in the pipeline. A four-acre residential project Prakhya Bliss is coming up in Pati, Patancheru and another 8.22-acre residential project Sahitha Green Homes in Kompally. We have also taken up new projects in Bachupally and Shamirpet with total area of 9 acres and 5 acres respectively.

We aspire to do projects beyond Hyderabad as well in the coming future.

How the real estate market is doing in Telangana, particularly in Hyderabad?

The sale of residential properties has seen an accelerated growth post-Covid in Hyderabad and Telangana. We can attribute some of this growth to a change in employment conditions of working professionals. As per Q3 (July-September) of FY 2021-22 statistics, Hyderabad sold 6,735 properties, over 300 per cent more than the previous year.

People have understood that working from home is a reality and that there is a need to own a home and, in the future, a larger home, which has caused a recovery in residential demand. This has resulted in a 75 per cent rise in residential demand in 2021 when compared to previous year.

Mortgage interest rates are low, and State government has taken initiatives to promote demand. Developers have also improved the appeal of their services. A collaborative workspace will be in high demand in the future. Amid the epidemic, flexible workspace providers have been fairly active in providing short-term business spaces. Furthermore, many international investors have invested in this area and organised their wealth while witnessing the industry's growth and development. Telangana government's cluster strategy has proven effective. Cluster-driven growth has occurred in Hyderabad attracting similar industries to foster synergy.

Bringing technology and manufacturing-focused developments in numerous industries will promote growth in the next few years. Telangana government is eager to build multimodal logistic hubs. Industrial corridor initiatives and the construction of a regional ring road (RRR) are certain to improve logistics efficiencies, thereby boosting industrialisation in Hyderabad.