Elements Of Style

Navin Makhija, MD, The Wadhwa Group, has stoutly stuck to developing sensible buildings by looking inside out, but not forgetting to make them marque structures

- Jayashree Kini Mendes

Making high-stakes business decisions has always been hard. But in recent decades, as the complexities of commerce have deepened, it’s become tougher than ever. The choices facing real estate developers and the data requiring analysis have multiplied even as the time for analysing them has shrunk.

One decision-making tool—human intuition—seems to offer a reliable alternative to painstaking fact gathering and analysis. And that is what Navin Makhija, MD, The Wadhwa Group, has always relied on.

Consider this: At a time when developers are dragging their feet on arranging the Occupancy Certificate (OC), The Wadhwa Group has acquired 11 OCs in 18 months! Makhija attributes it to experience, insight, and analytical skills of the team. The company is also launching eight projects this financial year, and that is no small feat.

THE RIGHT ELEMENTS

The Wadhwa Group has several mantras it lives by. They believe that offering the right elements is what makes them distinct. Houses may be looked at. Eventually they are to be lived in. The Group believes that housing is part of the atmosphere. So talk of sufficient air, ventilation, natural light and the height to facilitate these functions. Elevations and façades are all very well. That’s outside in. Makhija is into inside out. It’s about people living in a house, not about just admiring it from the outside.

Naturally, Makhija is sort of married to the profession that believes in atmosphere. After being an integral part of The Wadhwa Group, he is today at the helm of affairs. He has come a long way since 2001 in the art of construction to establish himself among the heavyweights, and learnt that at a certain point it is an art. After that it is money.