FROM BOARDROOMS TO BREAKTHROUGHS: WOMEN TRANSFORMING REALTY

The real estate boardroom is changing – but not in leaps, in quiet increments. Across major cities, a growing number of women are stepping into leadership roles where decisions have a weight. However, their leadership isn’t about dominating – it’s about balancing. They bring a collaborative approach that’s rooted in understanding both market trends and human behavior. Their way of leading isn’t loud – it’s durable. And every time a woman takes a seat at the table not offered before, it makes the space a little wider for other women professionals.

Rising Through the Ranks
Real estate in India has often followed a generational rhythm – with legacies passed down from father to son, sometimes across decades. But that rhythm is shifting. Today, women are as second-generation leadership are taking the lead in long-standing family businesses. Though, for daughters inheriting the mantle, it’s not always a smooth handover. The expectations are different, the scrutiny sharper, as these leaders expressed.

For some, family name helps; for others, it’s the very obstacle they must climb over. But many a first-generation women business owners are charting routes through instinct, grit, and self-learning. From architects launching development ventures, finance professionals moving into land strategy to real estate marketers and technology exerts turning their understanding of space into buildable formats – these journeys are self propelled and often deeply personal.

While some male counterparts are trusted by default, women often have to build that trust brick by brick – pitching projects, navigating negotiations, and absorbing subtle biases along the way.

Technology as a Catalyst
Not too long ago, most real estate workflows were tethered to landline phones, ledger books, and site visits that spanned entire days. Today, with digitization reshaping how projects are conceived, built, and sold, women are finally gaining leverage in an industry that once demanded constant physical presence. For many, technology has blurred traditional boundaries – offering tools to lead, analyze, and execute with flexibility and force. Across marketing desks, planning rooms, and backend systems, women are now managing operations through CRM dashboards, virtual walkthroughs, drone surveys, and predictive pricing tools. It’s not just about access – it’s about autonomy. But as with most revolutions, there’s a catch. Many smaller firms still operate on paper trails and manual coordination, pushing women out of tech-driven leadership loops. Without structured skilling or access to tools, their ideas never scale. That’s not a tech limitation – it’s a systemic one. Bridging this gap means more than providing software – it means empowering women to use it to lead. Technology doesn’t replace presence. But it does amplify it. And in real estate, where influence still leans on visibility, tech might just be the sharpest tool women have to claim their space.

Next-Gen Women & Fresh Ideologies
The next generation of women entering Indian real estate is rewriting the rules – not loudly, but with conviction. And they’re doing it with digital fluency, bold thinking, and an intuitive understanding of the industry eco-system. These women aren’t waiting for permission to lead, their focus is clear: purpose over hierarchy, impact over tradition. That sentiment threads through their work – from valuation models that account for social equity, to architectural narratives that reflect identity, not just design trends.

They’re not afraid to challenge how things have always been done. Instead, they bring ideas that reflect modern living, f luid communities, and values that extend beyond square footage. In corporate setups, they advocate f lexible working models, inclusive HR policies, and better mental health frameworks. In classrooms, their numbers are rising in real estate law, finance, and urban governance courses – signaling not just a passing trend, but long-term commitment.

In a space where mobility has often been a limiting factor – especially for women juggling personal responsibilities – tech has come as a quiet revolution. They can be anywhere and still keeping a pulse on deals, timelines, and decisions.

Challenges That Still Persist & The Road Ahead
Progress in Indian real estate is no longer a question – it’s visible. You see it in more women taking meetings, managing sites, leading pitch decks. But it’s also not yet evenly spread. Ask any woman midway through her career – whether she’s an on-site engineer, an investment strategist, or a regional coordinator – and she’ll tell you: the barriers haven’t disappeared. They’ve just changed shape. Bias isn’t always loud; sometimes it’s the silence in a meeting when ideas are dismissed too quickly.

Sometimes it’s the absence of mentorship, or the informal networks where decisions are made but few women are present. Women professionals have to work twice as hard to be seen, heard, and trusted. And yet, women are staying, they’re surviving in what was once the men’s industry and lo and behold even having the audacity to reshape it. From founders leading ventures to project heads negotiating with municipal bodies, their voices are becoming harder to ignore. It’s no longer about breaking into the room – it’s about redesigning the room itself. Industry forums are slowly making space. There are mentorship platforms emerging, policy dialogues being revisited, and award stages that spotlight female impact. What’s hopeful is the growth. Quiet, consistent, and community-driven.

Some Shining Examples

Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha was the first woman engineer in India. She earned her degree in Civil Engineering in 1943. This remarkable accomplishment was an exceptional feat at a time when engineering education was predominantly male dominated, and women pursuing such fields were a rarity. Her determination to break barriers opened doors for future generations of women to pursue careers in engineering and various other technical disciplines.

Kalpana Saroj is widely recognized as India’s first female entrepreneur. She took over the distressed Kamani Tubes Company in 2001 and transformed it into a profitable business. Her inspiring journey from being a child bride in a Dalit family to successfully reviving a multi-million dollar company is a testament to resilience, determination, and the indomitable spirit of women.

Ela Bhatt, popularly known as the ‘gentle revolutionary’ founded the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) in 1972. A lawyer by training, she was the chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith and was part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro finance movements. She has worked remarkably at the grassroot level to uplift and empower Indian women.

Renu Sud Karnad, the former Managing Director of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), started her career with HDFC at the age of 26 in the year 1978. Balancing both family and work, Karnad continued to learn the ropes of the trade and became the head of lending business at HDFC. She has been credited with the herculean growth of the bank and its success in the current form. She has also been instrumental in getting the merger of HDFC bank with its parent company HDFC.

Anita Arjundas is acknowledged as the first women top head major developers’ residential business. Coming from a business family but determined to create an identity for herself, Anita Arjundas has had an illustrious career at the Mahindra Group. And while, these are just some examples, there are many other remarkable success stories of female entrepreneurs in India. Over the past few years, government schemes have significantly helped small women entrepreneurs and private sector too has opened up to gender inclusive workspace not just as a checkbox but as a future blueprint.