There is a resurgence in NRI investments in India’s realty sector due to uncertainties in global market and Trump’s policies

Demand for residential projects remains high in Bengaluru despite increase in property prices in recent years. Especially, projects coming up in good locations in the IT capital of India are witnessing good sales velocity.

Established players in the Bengaluru market has been cashing in such high demand for residential properties. Mana Projects is one of the leading real estate players in Bengaluru with a dominant position in the eastern part of the city. In a conversation with the Bizz Buzz, D Kishore Reddy, who is the founder and Chairman & Managing Director of Mana Projects said that demand coming from IT sector professionals remains strong as of now.

He also said that sales coming from NRI segment have increased in recent months owing to global uncertainty due to US President Donald Trump’s policies. Mana Projects is coming up with a mixed township project in Bengaluru spread over 110 acres.

The company is planning to launch 2.5 million sq ft in 2026, he added. According to him, the company will increase its commercial office space portfolio in the coming years

Can you provide a brief overview about Mana Projects? How has been the journey since inception?

At Mana Projects, we are predominantly focussed on residential projects. We have also recently started projects in the commercial space. We started in the year 2000 when IT industry was beginning to grow in Bengaluru. In 1997-98, we were exposed to real estate sector but that period, time was tough for the real estate sector.

In 2000, we started our first real estate project. We had a humble beginning of constructing 20 units. Slowly, we started increasing our footprint in Benglauru. We were able to achieve more sales from our existing clients.

Growth rate was accelerating till 2008 with rising demand for residential properties. In 2008-09, global financial crisis impacted the growth rate of the real estate industry. As a measure to maintain our growth rate, we took some contracting work for projects.

We stayed prepared for the next cycle of growth. From 2010 onwards, demand for real estate projects started picking up. The training and capacity building done during 2008-10 period helped us to launch bigger projects. We were able to launch branded projects and greenfield projects post this period.

From 2010 onwards, we saw accelerated growth. Disruptions caused due to GST, RERA and demonetisation didn’t impact us due to our strategies.

During Covid period, we took care of our employees with financial and other supports. In the 25th year of our inception, we have just entered the commercial realty space. We have started a 5 lakh sq ft project. Going ahead, we have good pipeline.

Can you throw some light on the completed projects in the residential housing segment?

In the residential segment, we are a dominant player in the eastern part of Bangalore. We have completed projects of 15 million sq ft. Around 30 projects have been completed so far. We have seven ongoing projects.

One of the interesting projects, we have a mixed township. We are developing this project where a mixed township is coming up. Here developments related to commercial, retail, signature club houses, sports academy and other developments are coming up on 110 acres of land parcel.

We have reserved space for IT park. Once residential project comes to a certain stage in the township, we have plans to build an IT park. IT-related developments and retail will be developed in around 40 acres in this project.

What kind of land bank Mana Projects has in Benglauru? What kind of new projects will come up in the coming year?

We have a land parcel of close to 150 acres in Bengaluru. We will be launching a new project in North Benglauru during the last quarter of this year. As of now, we are focussed on Benglauru. We may look at other cities in the future.

We may look at launching project in Telangana. But we are focussed on launching the large project spanning over 110 acres for now. In 2026, we are going to roll out projects spanning over 2.5 million sq ft.

On the commercial side, our aim is to increase the commercial realty portfolio by 2X in coming years.

Can you please provide a portfolio mix of residential and commercial segments? Will the share change in the coming years?

Currently, our portfolio is residential project-heavy. Around 90 per cent of revenue comes from residential properties. The rest of the share comes from commercial space side.

Going ahead, we want increase the share of commercial space in our overall revenue to around 30 per cent. But that will happen in the medium-term. Simultaneously, portfolio of residential projects will continue to grow.

How is the overall demand environment for residential projects in Bengaluru? Has recent price hike impacted the demand scenario negatively?

Demand for residential properties remains high. Prices have definitely gone up because land availability is less. Also, cost of construction has gone up.

However, demand remains very strong based on the location. If the location is good and connectivity is good to the location, demand is very high.

And the Sarjapur Road is located in between Whitefield, Electronics City, and Outer Ring Road. All the IT and service jobs are created in these locations.

Social infrastructure is very good in this location with schools, hospitals and others. So, sales velocity is pretty good in this area.

IT sector is going through a period of slowdown due to multiple factors. Has that impacted the sales numbers in recent quarters?

No, there is no correction in the market. IT sector hiring remains strong. As outsourcing is going strong, hiring is continuing. Demand for commercial space also remains strong.

Many office spaces are getting occupied in micro markets of Bengaluru. Naturally, that percolates into uptake of residential properties.

How is the demand from NRI segment? Has that been impacted due to Trump administration’s policies in recent months?

There is an uptick in NRI segment of late due to uncertainties in the global market and US President Donald Trump administration’s policies.

So, there are extra conversions happening in the NRI market.

How is the growth rate of Mana Projects in recent years? Can you provide some perspective in this matter?

Growth rate has been steady for Mana Projects. This year, growth rate is likely to be higher (than past year). Our debt to equity ratio remains healthy.

We make sure that we don’t raise debt for buying land parcels. Our debt is mostly construction finance for projects.

Do you plan to go public in the coming years?

We don’t have any such plans for now. We may look at it down the line.