By Mitul Jain, Managing Director, SPJ Group
Urbanisation in India is no longer confined to the expansion of city centres. Instead, it is increasingly being shaped by large-scale infrastructure investments, emerging business hubs and expanding employment clusters that are redefining the country’s real estate landscape. According to Mitul Jain, Managing Director, SPJ Group, this transformation will continue to be one of the strongest drivers of long-term growth across residential, commercial and retail real estate.
Jain notes that infrastructure projects such as highways, metro corridors and airports have evolved beyond their traditional role as transport assets. Increasingly, they serve as catalysts for entirely new real estate markets. As connectivity improves and employment opportunities emerge, demand for housing, office space and retail developments typically follows. While the pace and sequence may vary across cities, the relationship between infrastructure and real estate growth has remained remarkably consistent.
He believes the pace of this development has accelerated significantly over the past decade. Rather than expanding outward from a single urban core, India’s metropolitan regions are now developing through multiple growth centres supported by new business districts, industrial corridors, airports and expressways. This shift is also influencing homebuyer preferences. Buyers are placing greater emphasis on the long-term evolution of the surrounding urban ecosystem, looking beyond project-specific amenities to evaluate how a location is likely to develop over the next ten to fifteen years.
According to Jain, this pattern is evident across several of India’s major cities. Bengaluru continues to benefit from its strong technology ecosystem, while Hyderabad has reinforced its position as a preferred destination for Global Capability Centres (GCCs). Pune’s manufacturing and technology sectors continue to support residential demand, and Mumbai is undergoing another phase of transformation through infrastructure-led redevelopment. Although each city follows its own development trajectory, Jain argues that sustained real estate growth occurs where infrastructure, employment and urban development progress together.
The strength of this relationship is also reflected in India’s commercial real estate market. Citing JLL’s India Office Market Report 2025, Jain notes that the country recorded its highest-ever annual gross office leasing of 83.3 million sq. ft. in 2025, while net absorption reached a record 57 million sq. ft. These figures, he says, underline the role of employment-driven expansion in supporting long-term urban real estate demand.
Jain believes Delhi-NCR is undergoing a similar transformation, although its growth has been more decentralised. Rather than relying on a single urban centre, the region has evolved through multiple interconnected cities supported by improved infrastructure. Projects such as the Dwarka Expressway, the expanding Delhi Metro network, the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) and the Noida International Airport are changing how buyers and investors assess locations across the NCR while creating new opportunities for residential, commercial and retail development.
Within this evolving regional landscape, Gurugram continues to occupy a distinct position. Jain attributes the city’s resilience to its strong corporate ecosystem, established office districts and expanding business environment, which together have created a demand profile that remains difficult to replicate. He further points to estimates from JLL, which indicate that Delhi-NCR, led by Gurugram, accounted for 20.9 percent of India’s total office leasing in 2025, making it the country’s second-largest office leasing market after Bengaluru.
Jain also observes a significant shift in buyer behaviour. In the past, homebuyers generally waited for infrastructure projects to become operational before making investment decisions. Today, many are prepared to invest much earlier, provided they have confidence in the long-term direction of development. According to him, this confidence has been built over years of witnessing how large infrastructure projects have transformed entire urban corridors rather than isolated neighbourhoods.
Looking ahead, Jain believes upcoming initiatives such as the proposed Namo Cities are likely to reinforce this trend. In his view, India’s next phase of real estate growth will continue to be shaped by the combination of infrastructure expansion, employment generation and urbanisation, creating integrated growth corridors that support sustained demand across residential and commercial markets.
