LOFTY AMBITIONS

Pradeep Aggarwal, founder & chairman, Signature Global Group and chairman of ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development, has championed the cause of green homes successfully

- JAYASHREE KINI MENDES

When in 2015, the year-old BJP government announced Housing for All by 2022, it was received with much applause. Developers nodded their heads in approval and appreciation, but the bottom line is there were few takers. Prohibitive land prices, construction costs, and the cap on the selling price was a deterrent to most. Developers in metro cities could not even fathom building such homes within city limits. But one man decided to support the local government's schemes for affordable housing and, to quote Robert Frost: And that has made all the difference. Pradeep Aggarwal, founder & chairman, Signature Global Group and chairman of ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development, a newbie to the world of real estate, took the plunge.

For a company that was set up in 2013, Signature Global today has more completed and under-construction projects to its credit than developers who have been in the business for decades. Aggarwal's confession that this venture was his debut into a world where he barely knew the ropes comes as a bigger surprise. "It 10.00 was my years of experience in the capital markets that taught me all I knew about managing money. I learnt about corporate governance when working for a company governed by SEBI. Property development is mainly about having a ready set of investors and keeping a sharp eye out for good land deals and reliable vendors and contractors," he says.

Total area developed: ~5.8 mn sq-ft

GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME