India’s housing story is moving beyond the next residential launch to a more fundamental question: what kind of neighbourhood do people want to live in? As cities expand and homebuyers become more discerning, the appeal of a property increasingly rests on what surrounds it, from workplaces and retail to healthcare, education and community spaces.
For Bhartiya Urban, this shift is shaping its next phase of growth. With Nikoo Homes serving as the residential anchor of its integrated development model, the company is looking to extend its presence across Bengaluru while retaining its emphasis on design, community and quality of life.
In conversation with Sapna Srivastava, Rajan Aggarwal, CFO and CGO, Bhartiya Urban, discusses the company's expansion strategy, the growth prospects of North Bengaluru and the forces likely to reshape India's real estate market over the next decade.
Bhartiya Urban is moving beyond individual residential projects towards larger urban ecosystems. What strategy will guide this next phase of expansion?
Our next phase of growth is about scaling an integrated urban ecosystem rather than simply adding individual projects. Communities that bring homes, workplaces, retail, hospitality and social infrastructure together will remain central to our approach. Bhartiya City has demonstrated the strength of this model, with Nikoo Homes serving as its residential anchor.
Our five tattvas, Family, Community, Culture, Health and Learning, will continue to guide how we design our developments and think about the quality of life we offer residents.
The response from homebuyers has been encouraging, with more than 9,000 families choosing Nikoo Homes across our projects. Since late 2023, we have also scaled up our presence, launching around 6,000 homes across five projects in North Bengaluru.
Our next step is to build Nikoo Homes into a city-wide residential brand, extending beyond North Bengaluru into South and West Bengaluru, including JP Nagar, Kanakapura Road and Mysore Road. The aim is to retain the same design philosophy and community-led approach while responding to the distinct needs of each market.
We are continuously expanding our development pipeline across Bengaluru's micro-markets. Our balance sheet is strong enough to support this growth without taking undue risks, backed by an experienced execution team and a channel partner network that we are expanding alongside the business.
The priority is disciplined growth, with design, community and quality of life remaining at the centre of every development.
North Bengaluru has emerged as a major growth corridor. How do you see demand evolving over the next three to five years, and how will you calibrate new supply?
We expect North Bengaluru to remain a major growth corridor over the next three to five years, with infrastructure development playing a significant role in unlocking its potential. The Blue Line metro is expected to strengthen connectivity across key parts of the city, including the airport, Hebbal, KR Puram and Silk Board, while suburban rail could add another important layer to the transport network.
Employment is also expanding across the region. Developments such as Foxconn's proposed facility at ITIR Devanahalli, the Aerospace Park, Manyata Tech Park, the Hebbal corridor, global capability centres and the proposed KWIN City could serve as long-term demand drivers.
Our projects are positioned across this evolving corridor, covering locations such as Kempegowda International Airport, Thanisandra, Kogilu Cross, Bellahalli, Bagalur and Navarathna Agrahara.
Over the next three to five years, we expect demand to remain largely end-user-driven. With homebuyers having more options, factors such as design quality, suitability for different life stages and the developer's track record will play an increasingly important role. Homes that genuinely improve everyday living will have a stronger proposition.
This also means offering greater choice across life stages, from studios to four-bedroom apartments with staff rooms, as well as villas and townhouses.
Our approach to supply will remain disciplined. Launches will be phased according to market absorption rather than the mere availability of land. Approvals, construction progress on ongoing projects, delivery commitments and infrastructure milestones in individual micro-markets will all inform the pace at which we introduce new supply.
As Bhartiya Urban expands across Bengaluru, which markets and development formats will shape its next phase of growth?
North Bengaluru will remain central to our growth strategy. Nearly half of our planned pipeline is located in the North, allowing us to deepen our presence in a market where we have developed a strong understanding of the ecosystem and buyer demand.
South and West Bengaluru are our key expansion markets. These are established, well-connected parts of the city with strong end-user demand, and they offer an opportunity to introduce Nikoo Homes to a wider base of buyers. We remain focused on Bengaluru, with the ambition of building a strong city-wide residential presence.
The development format will depend on the location, its potential and the needs of the intended buyer. Depending on the site, this could mean high-rise apartments, villas, townhouses or mixed-use developments incorporating retail.
Three considerations will guide our growth decisions: the potential to create a well-planned community, the strength of end-user demand and the quality of connectivity.
Across markets, Nikoo Homes will retain its emphasis on intelligent design, a diverse range of home formats and inclusive communities. The objective is not to replicate the same project in every location, but to adapt our underlying design and community philosophy to the character and requirements of each market.
What major shifts do you expect to shape Indian real estate over the next five to ten years?
Several shifts will influence the sector over the next five to ten years. The first is greater formalisation and consolidation. RERA and increasingly informed homebuyers are raising expectations around accountability and timely delivery, making a developer's track record an important consideration in purchasing decisions.
The second is the growing emphasis on usable space. Buyers want homes that offer greater functionality within a given configuration, whether through dedicated study areas, more spacious living rooms or flexible spaces that accommodate changing family needs.
At Nikoo Homes, this thinking is reflected in design features such as bay windows, which can add to the usable space and functionality of a home. Bengaluru's average apartment size increased by around 21% over two years to approximately 1,790 sq. ft. in 2025, pointing to a growing preference for more spacious homes.
We are also seeing an upward shift in buyer preferences. Homes priced below ₹1 crore accounted for 11% of Bengaluru's residential sales in 2025, compared with 20% a year earlier. Three-bedroom apartments continue to be a preferred configuration, supported by the needs of nuclear families and the adoption of hybrid working.
Integrated townships and mixed-use developments are likely to become increasingly relevant as buyers place greater value on convenience, community living and shorter commutes. A range of housing formats within the same development can also allow families to move into larger or different homes as their needs evolve, without having to leave a familiar neighbourhood.
At the national level, institutional capital and organised developers are gaining ground, while rising land and construction costs are making efficient planning and execution more important. Continued urbanisation will also push residential demand towards well-connected city peripheries.
However, outward expansion alone will not create sustainable urban growth. As cities spread, employment, infrastructure and housing must develop in tandem. The peripheral locations that succeed will be those where connectivity, jobs and social infrastructure come together to create viable places to live, rather than merely new addresses on the urban map.
