CELEBRATING THE POWER WOMEN OF INDIAN REAL ESTATE

In a male-dominated industry where women are often expected to bring creativity but not commercial acumen, Ishita Bhattacharya chose to challenge the stereotype by mastering the language of business. Early in her career in real estate and infrastructure, she realised that the challenge was not doing the work, but being heard while doing it. Determined to change that, she immersed herself in pricing, ROI, conversion economics and digital analytics, ensuring she could walk into any strategy discussion with confidence. "You can't out-shout the room. You have to out-think it and out-evidence it," she says, a philosophy that has defined her leadership journey. Ishita earned credibility by shifting the conversation from campaigns to outcomes, focusing on revenue, conversion and brand value. Equally important was learning to navigate bias without allowing it to shape her identity.

Today,she leads with empathy but relies on evidence to drive decisions. While she believes the conversation around diversity has evolved significantly, she points out that the real challenge now lies in retaining and advancing women into leadership roles. Sponsorship, Realty she argues, remains the missing link. For Ishita, the strongest boardrooms are not those with the most women, but those where women are heard as equals and decisions are guided by merit, insight and evidence.