_pages-to-jpg-0001.jpg)
After an illustrious career spanning over four decades, Sankey Prasad has stepped down as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Colliers India and Colliers Project Leaders, concluding a defining chapter with the global real estate consultancy.
Colliers confirmed the development in a statement on October 28, noting that while Prasad has relinquished his position as CMD in the Colliers Project Leaders Middle East business, he will continue to hold a stake in the company.
Now based in the Middle East, Prasad plans to focus on selective entrepreneurial ventures and strategic advisory roles. He will work closely with developer and investor clients across India and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, providing technical support and board-level guidance in real estate, infrastructure, and capital projects.
A civil engineer by training, Prasad brings over forty years of experience in the construction and real estate industries. He began his career in 1983, taking on leadership roles at several major development and construction firms in India and abroad before founding Synergy Property Development Services in 2003. His goal was to build a professional project management and design-build consultancy capable of delivering large-scale, complex projects with precision and reliability.
Under his leadership, Synergy grew into one of India’s most successful project management and design-build firms, executing landmark commercial, residential, healthcare, and industrial developments across the country and overseas. The firm’s success soon attracted global investors. In 2008, Blackstone Inc. made its first-ever real estate investment in India by acquiring a 35% stake in Synergy through an $18 million investment, a move that underscored international confidence in India’s growing real estate sector.
In 2019, Colliers International acquired Synergy, marking the beginning of Prasad’s next big phase. Following the acquisition, he was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Colliers India, a role in which he steered the company through a period of rapid expansion and consolidation.
Under his stewardship, Colliers India grew to a team of over 3,000 professionals, achieving steady triple-digit annual profit growth. The firm diversified beyond its traditional business of office transactions into project management, valuation and advisory, facilities management, design and build, capital markets, and technical due diligence. Over the past four years, Colliers India delivered more than 130 million square feet of real estate projects across the country—ranging from office complexes and residential developments to industrial and institutional spaces.
Prasad’s leadership style was marked by strategic clarity, operational discipline, and an emphasis on building scalable, process-driven teams. Colleagues and industry observers often describe him as a leader who combines deep technical knowledge with the ability to align large, multi-stakeholder projects toward shared goals.
In January 2024, his portfolio expanded further when Colliers appointed him Chairman and Managing Director for Colliers Project Leaders in the Middle East, in addition to his India responsibilities. As part of the move, Prasad also acquired a significant equity stake in the project management business in the region. The expansion aimed to strengthen Colliers’ project delivery capabilities across MENA and deepen client relationships through integrated services.
During his tenure, Colliers Project Leaders Middle East secured several major mandates, including the $250 million World Trade Center Yerevan project and a large mixed-use development in Armenia, both of which involved full-cycle project management and delivery services.
With his latest transition, Prasad is moving from an executive leadership role to a more flexible and consultative phase in his career. People close to the development said he intends to continue engaging with the built-environment ecosystem through select client partnerships, offering strategic and technical guidance, investment advice, and mentorship.
From founding one of India’s most respected project management firms to leading Colliers through a transformative phase of growth, Sankey Prasad’s career reflects the evolution of India’s real estate industry itself, from a fragmented, developer-driven space to one shaped by professionalism, institutional investment, and global best practices.
His departure from Colliers marks the close of one chapter but also the beginning of another, one focused on entrepreneurship, cross-border collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across India and the Middle East. Those who have worked with him describe him as a visionary leader who leaves behind a strong foundation for Colliers’ continued growth and a legacy built on integrity, discipline, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.
