Anuj Puri

Anuj Puri is Chairman of ANAROCK Group, a leading real estate services company and Mace’s strategic partner in India. A highly respected authority and industry thought-leader, Mr Puri has more than 30 years of experience in the Indian real estate market.

Please tell us about ANAROCK

ANAROCK is an independent real estate services company with a strong presence across India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The company was formed in 2017 after an acquisition of JLL India’s residential brokerage business and is headquartered in Mumbai. 

Our company has diversified interests across the real estate lifecycle and we deploy our proprietary technology platform to accelerate marketing and sales. As India is an emerging, dynamic market of 1.3 billion people, we see a huge opportunity to bring technology into the real estate sector to serve a growing customer need. 

ANAROCK serves a range of sectors, from residential, retail and commercial to investment banking and hospitality – to name a few. Mace is one of our four strategic global partners.

How is the market developing in India?

There’s been a huge transition in recent years.

The Indian real estate market has been disrupted by a series of events starting with the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act in 2016, followed by the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, and the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, which is leading to consolidation of stakeholders.

COVID-19 reset how businesses around the world conduct their operations, accelerating the trend towards technology and automation. Changes that might have taken years to manifest are now happening in mere months.

There’s exciting opportunity for expansion. E-commerce is driving demand in warehousing and logistics, and sectors such as data centres and pharmaceutical are expected to grow rapidly. India’s Tier II and Tier III cities have begun to flourish. People who had previously sought career opportunities in major metropolitan areas, returned to their hometowns with the opportunity to work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.

On the real estate side, we are noticing that customers want to buy properties that are ready-to-move-in (RTMI) rather than view something that is under construction. This means that developers are forced to crunch timelines and optimise cost. Also, the demand for outsourcing of IT services is very robust and there is continued demand and trust from American companies. Nearly 40% of the new office space in India is taken by American corporations.

It’s clear that the Indian market has come a long way from being an unorganised, closely-held, promoter-driven business to becoming one that is organised and transparent.

How did the relationship with Mace begin?

As ANAROCK continued to expand its business services beyond retail, industrial and hospitality, we also wanted to provide our developer clients with the best-in-class international approach to project delivery. My business partner of 25 years, Rohin Shah, introduced me to Mace. Given Mace’s expertise in international markets and its understanding of the Indian real estate landscape, we believe that this partnership perfectly combines global best practice in construction and project management with local expertise to cover the delivery cycle for real estate assets.

How are Mace and ANAROCK aligned?

The key objective of the partnership is to use our combined experience and expertise to increase productivity and transform project delivery for our clients. ANAROCK’s deep relationship with developers and Mace’s innovative construction solutions and excellent global track record will be a value add for clients, keeping in mind costs, quality, safety and time.

This joint venture is a great match that plays on each of our strengths. Together, we aim to cater to our clients at every stage of project delivery across sectors including mixed-use office and retail developments, residential projects including student accommodation, as well industrial warehousing, data centres and government consulting.

What is your vision for the future?

The timing couldn’t be better. I firmly believe that the Mace-ANAROCK collaboration will further accelerate the Indian real estate and construction sectors through new age, tech-driven, cost-optimised solutions in the post COVID-19 revival phase. In the years to come, this will become a watershed partnership where both parties bringing in new practices for safety and accurate estimates on cost and time. Ultimately, we are here to help clients. Everything we do will move the needle and will be truly transformational.