On the show meet India’s biggest builder you have probably never heard of. Shivam Agarwal of Sattva Group joins me. They are the biggest office company in India and are Google’s biggest landlord in India. They run the Knowledge Realty Trust valued at over INR 50,000 crore. The company is low-profile and has traditionally focused on Bengaluru and Hyderabad for homes and offices. But now it is expanding into newer geographies like Mumbai and paying greater attention to homes.
Shivam says that emotion plays a bigger role for a landowner in Mumbai vs Bengaluru. He says 10% of a landowner decision in Bengaluru is emotion while it is 40% in Mumbai. He compares building offices to a Zomato order that is ready, fixed and as per specifications. He reports that top companies look for a reputation and flexibility in a developer before doing deals.
Sattva’s biggest claim to fame is in Hyderabad where they built the giant Knowledge City that has become a landmark in the region. He highlights the dramatic rise in land prices where rates have jumped 10x in over a decade.
He compares India’s top property markets with Bollywood actors referring to Gurgaon as Salman Khan, Bengaluru as Aamir Khan and Mumbai as Ranveer Singh.
As someone with a tough experience in Kolkata he boldly predicts that the city is ripe for a take-off that may resemble the turnaround of superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Mumbai home prices are obscenely high compared to the rest of India. Shivam says similar location and product prices in Mumbai will be almost 4x of Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
On home prices – he expects Gurgaon prices to fall, Bengaluru and Pune prices to rise.
The segment he is most bullish on within real estate is co-living.

0:00 – 1:47: Intro
1:48 – 6:30: Role of Emotion in Real Estate
6:31 – 8:09: Office vs Homes
8:10 – 10:42: Being Google’s biggest landlord
10:43 – 13:57: How companies choose their office?
13:58 – 15:56: Will AI sink Indian IT?
15:57 – 17:36: Secret sauce of Bengaluru builders
17:37 – 19:15: Bollywood actors vs Property Markets
19:16 – 20:22: Builders have to be good financiers
20:23 – 22:42: Ease of doing business in India
22:43 – 24:08: Politicians or Bureaucrats matter more in Real Estate
24:09 – 26:13: Extraordinary execution of infra in Mumbai
26:14 – 27:20: Traffic: Bengaluru vs Mumbai
27:21 – 33:21: The Billionaire in Mumbai local trains
33:22 – 34:43: No building below 40 floors in Mumbai
34:44 – 37:52: Knowledge City: From ₹48/sqft to ₹140/sqft
37:53 – 39:50: Challenge to sell Kolkata’s Tallest building
39:51 – 43:03: Kolkata is Amitabh Bachchan, now Rising
43:04 – 43:39: SRK is Dubai
43:40 – 46:49: Sattva’s loss being Prestige gain
46:50 – 48:51: The Bandra charm
48:52 - 50:07: Bandra vs SOBO
50:08 – 51:40: Bengaluru Roads vs Mumbai Roads
51:41 – 54:12: Home buyer in Bengaluru/Hyderabad/Mumbai
54:13 – 56:58: Home Prices in India
56:59 – 57:48: Swimming Pool the most over-rated amenity
57:49 – 58:51: Locker room & Ambulance an under-rated amenity
58:52 – 1:01:26: Most common mistake by a home buyer
1:01:27 – 1:02:05: Bengaluru, Pune home prices to rise
1:02:06 – 1:03:43: Gurgaon home prices to fall
1:03:44 – 1:08:02: Co-living a segment for the future
1:08:03 – 1:08:55: 1/4th capital needed for homes vs offices
1:08:56 – 1:10:21: The Perfect Developer