FARIDABAD, SONIPAT, MEERUT: UDDHAV PODDAR’S BIG BET ON NCR’S NEXT GROWTH CORRIDOR

Uddhav Poddar has spent the past decade turning Bhumika Realty into a company that treats every project like a living organism, something with a pulse and personality rather than a cluster of buildings. He speaks with the calm of someone who has replayed the future many times in his mind, and with the assurance of a developer who believes the National Capital Region is expanding in exactly the direction he anticipated. His team has set a Rs 2,000-crore revenue target for FY25. Poddar doesn’t pitch it as bravado. For him, the math is simple: projects already launched, land parcels acquired over the last year, and a funnel of developments ready to go live form a pipeline strong enough to get them there.

Through the conversation, he keeps returning to the people he calls ‘Bhumikans,’ the roughly 500 employees who drive the company forward. He includes channel partners and early customers in that circle too. They form a kind of extended engine that keeps the company in motion. Poddar often says that the team’s belief in a project matters as much as a site’s potential. In a business where sentiment tends to swing wildly, that internal conviction is what gives the company confidence as it steps into its most active expansion phase yet.


Poddar says emerging belts such as Faridabad, Sonipat and Meerut are shaping up as the next wave of balanced urban growth, driven by better connectivity and rising residential demand.


NCR’s New Growth Corridors

NCR no longer behaves like a single region but like a cluster of cities growing in outward spirals. Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Meerut and newer pockets along Delhi’s outer edges are beginning to show the early signs of becoming independent hubs. While many developers keep their focus locked onto polished, high-demand zones like Central Delhi, Gurgaon’s Golf Course Road and Noida’s expressway belt, Poddar is looking a few kilometres beyond. He calls these outer pockets “the new growth corridors,” places shaped not by old patterns of development but by expressways, rail links and the ever-widening reach of the metro. Over the last decade, migration into NCR has surged, pulling in workers, students, professionals and entrepreneurs from across the country. The pressure on the established hubs is now easy to see. Affordability has shrunk, traffic feels like a daily tax and civic systems strain under the weight of new residents. Poddar argues that cities like Faridabad, Sonipat and Meerut are becoming the next wave of balanced urbanisation. Improvements in highways, new connectors to expressways and better public transit have shifted attention to places that until recently sat outside the radar of serious investors.

The Rise of the Growth Triangle

These cities are no longer auxiliary markets, he says. They are the newer versions of NCR, ready to host large integrated developments, emerging high-streets, office clusters and residential communities that reflect new aspirations. Taken together, they create what Poddar labels a “growth triangle,” a zone where investors find value appreciation tied directly to infrastructure upgrades. In his view, that equation is more stable than chasing oversaturated districts where pricing often outruns potential. Faridabad is where some of the company’s biggest bets are now rooted. One of Bhumika Realty’s most anticipated projects is a mixed-use development along the Delhi–Mathura Road. Designed by Bentel Associates of South Africa, the project is envisioned as a modern urban centre with premium retail, a five-star hotel and high-end residences. Poddar calls it a “gateway project,” one that signals the start of a new development cycle for the city. The location offers visibility, metro connectivity and a chance to redefine Faridabad’s real estate narrative. A few kilometres away, in Gurugram, Bhumika is building a commercial project on MG Road. The stretch remains one of the city’s most recognisable retail corridors, with daily footfall that many newer districts can only aspire to. The project brings together high-street retail, dining and Grade-A office spaces in a compact but premium format. Poddar expects it to become a dependable, long-term asset for tenants who want design quality and steady consumer visibility.

The contrast between the two projects captures the company’s range. Faridabad is a large-scale mixed-use leap into a city that is entering a new phase of growth. MG Road is a precision-built commercial investment in a mature market Beyond the main cities, Poddar’s map includes emerging belts like Sonipat, Panipat, Vrindavan and Meerut. For years, these places were dismissed as commuter towns, but the psychology of distance in North India has shifted. Expressways have compressed travel times, and new ring roads around Delhi have redrawn the region’s mental geography. Meerut, once seen as a peripheral town, is now within quick reach of the capital. Sonipat and Panipat are gaining from their proximity to both industrial corridors and NCR’s outer belt. What makes these places attractive, Poddar says, is not cheap land but developable land. Prices still allow large integrated townships, high-streets and mixed-use nodes without forcing developers into vertical-only solutions. Poddar often references Urban Square in Udaipur, the company’s flagship retail-led project, as an example of what destination-based development can achieve. The idea is not to replicate the project but to adapt its principles to each city’s rhythm. Good design, curated retail, strong catchments and public spaces that stay active through the day form the backbone of that approach.


“Design integrity and execution control,” he says, “are what help a project stay relevant for decades.”


Creating Spaces That Stay Alive

Urban Square Mall in Udaipur continues to shape how Poddar thinks about space. The mall did more than give the group a strong reputation in Rajasthan. It offered insights into how people move, gather and behave in shared environments. Retail, hospitality, circulation and public experience have since become part of the company’s design vocabulary. In NCR, this informs projects that combine residential, retail and hospitality without allowing any one component to overpower the rest. Poddar says the idea is to create places where life doesn’t switch off after office hours. Homes benefit from nearby retail, offices benefit from hospitality, and retail thrives because of built-in footfall. Architects call this a circulation-led design philosophy, but Poddar frames it as designing for real human behaviour rather than theoretical planning models. This background sets Bhumika apart from developers whose strengths lie only in residential construction. For Poddar, retail was never just about leases; it was about understanding the anatomy of movement in shared spaces.

As NCR grows more competitive, this perspective becomes an advantage. Every major developer has a footprint in the region, and new players keep arriving. What distinguishes Bhumika, Poddar argues, is its focus on destination projects over inventory-driven ones. Each development begins with a clear sense of how it should function within a city, not with how quickly units can be sold. That mindset guides land selection too. The company looks for sites with long-term value, places that can become recognisable anchors over time. Outright acquisitions give full control over design and timelines, which is essential for marquee projects. Joint development, on the other hand, can be useful when a local partner brings cultural understanding or land aggregation expertise. Poddar doesn’t believe in a single formula for expansion. What matters is whether the land and the partnership support the project’s long-term vision.

He also avoids the lure of quick turnover. Design integrity and execution control, he says, are what help a project stay relevant for decades. That philosophy demands patience but protects the company from overextending in a market where speed often overshadows planning. Bhumika Group’s other verticals feed into this ecosystem. Retail shapes their understanding of consumer behaviour. Logistics and e-commerce teach them about connectivity, timing and movement patterns. Hospitality deepens their sense of how people use spaces and what keeps them coming back. Poddar doesn’t treat these as side businesses. He sees them as sources of insight that help refine the developments his company builds. This approach fuels the next three to five years of Bhumika’s plans. Poddar expects the real estate arm to become known for design, quality and timely delivery.

Other verticals will strengthen their synergy with the core business, and the group is studying new sectors that complement its long-term direction. Execution has become a differentiator in a post-RERA world. Poddar explains that the company now uses real-time monitoring tools, milestone tracking and rigorous planning to keep projects on schedule. Design partners like Bentel Associates and ACPL help maintain a balance of global practice and local context. Regular audits and strong supply chain mapping reduce delays and prevent crises that plague many developers. While NCR remains the group’s home ground, Poddar doesn’t see geography as a limit. The long arc of the company’s vision includes a national presence powered by strong systems and a purpose-led approach.