M P Lodha, Rajiv Singh & Jitendra Virwani -- India's top 3 richest realty tycoons

Lodha Developers' M P Lodha and family has been named India's richest real estate entrepreneur with a wealth of Rs 31,960 crore, followed by DLF's Vice Chairman Rajiv Singh and Embassy group founder Jitendra Virwani in the second and third position respectively, according to a report.

Hurun Report and GROHE India on Monday released the third edition of 'GROHE Hurun India Real Estate Rich List 2019' -- featuring the 100 richest real estate entrepreneurs in India.

"With a wealth of Rs 31,960 crore, Mangal Prabhat Lodha & family of Macrotech Developers (earlier named Lodha Developers) retained the top spot in GROHE Hurun India Real Estate Rich List 2019 for the second consecutive year," the report said.

M P Lodha is currently chief of BJP's Mumbai unit.

Lodha family's wealth increased by 18 per cent during 2019 and was 12 per cent of the cumulative wealth of the remaining 99 Indians featured on the list.

"At number two is Rajiv Singh of DLF (up one rank) with a wealth of Rs 25,080 crore - up 42 per cent as compared to 2018," the report said.

Jitendra Virwani of Bengaluru-based Embassy Property Developments bagged the third spot with a wealth of Rs 24,750 crore.

The list was based on a snapshot of wealth as on September 30, 2019. For listed companies, the report has taken market capitalisation to determine the wealth, while for the unlisted companies, latest financial statement has been taken into account.

In the rich list, Hiranandani Communities group's Niranjan Hiranandani is at the fourth position with Rs 17,030 crore of wealth, followed by K Raheja's Chandru Raheja and family (5th, Rs 15,480 crore), Oberoi Realty's Vikas Oberoi (6th, Rs 13,910 crore) and Bagmane Developers' Raja Bagmane (7th, Rs 9,960 crore).

Surendra Hiranandani, House of Hiranandani Singapore, was ranked eighth with Rs 9,720 crore wealth, while Subhash Runwal and family of Mumbai-based Runwal Developers was at the ninth spot with a wealth of Rs 7,100 crore. Piramal Realty's Ajay Piramal and family were placed tenth at Rs 6,560 crore.

Total wealth of top 100 Indians in the real estate sector stood at Rs 2,77,080 crore (USD 39.5 billion) -- up 17 per cent against 2018, the report said.

"In an year, when the Indian real estate by and large faced multiple challenges - from slowdown to funds crunch to spotty demand - the average wealth of top 100 richest Indians from the sector increased by 16 per cent ro Rs 2,743 crore," the report said.

Mumbai accounted for six of the top 10 and 37 of the 100 names. Delhi and Bengaluru had 19 residents each who featured on the list. Interestingly, 3/4th of the richest Indians from the real estate sector are based in these three cities.

At the same time, the sector added two more US dollar billionaires -- taking the total to nine this year.

Around 59 per cent of the individuals mentioned in the list are first-generation entrepreneurs.

Interestingly, eight women made it to the list in 2019.

Smita V Crishna of Godrej Properties featured as the richest woman. She is at the 14th position with a wealth of Rs 3,560 crore.

The average age of the individuals in the list is 59. Six individuals under the age of 40 and three above the age of 80 made to the list.

With a net worth of Rs 740 crore, the youngest on the list is Jupally Ramu Rao and Jupally Shyam Rao (33) of My Home Constructions, while with a net worth of Rs 3,670 crore, Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi (90) of East India Hotels is the eldest.

"The third edition of the real estate rich list highlights two major transformations defining the sector," said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India.

Firstly, he said more weightage is being given by the buyers and lenders to players who value accountability, transparency and institutional approach. This is indicated from the fact that 60 per cent of individuals featured in this year's list are from stable or positively rated companies.

Secondly, the names on the rich list are not on it merely because they created wealth for themselves, but for the stakeholders they cater to through their companies. The combined revenue of companies in the list increased by 17 per cent and the listed real estate companies registered wealth growth of 24 per cent this year.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Founder, Hurun Report, said: "Indian real estate is set to a transformation owing to multiple factors. At the forefront of the change will be the leaders with proven expertise, credible brand and deep pockets to innovate and inspire."
Bobby Joseph, General Manager, LIXIL Water Technology (LWT), India & Subcontinent said, "Over the past few years, Indian realty has gone through a multitude of changes - from demonetization to RERA and GST - and has emerged as a truly transformational space that is thinking and functioning in a way that's primarily consumer first."