“Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within by David Goggins, regarded as the world’s toughest man, is one of my latest reads,” says Aaditya Sharda, 40, cofounder of Infra.Market, which has disrupted the construction industry with its building materials platform, integrating technology across the value chain. “The book is superb,” says Sharda, adding, “the author inspires me a lot”.
David Goggins is considered by many to be among the world’s best ultra-endurance athletes. He has competed in more than 70 endurance races, placed third at the Badwater 135 Death Valley (considered the world’s toughest foot race), and regularly placed in the top five in other ultra-marathons. He also held the Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups done in 24 hours, completing 4,030 in 17 hours.
Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL and the only member of the US Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training, as per Goggins’ website.
“There is a push that is required every day, particularly when one tries to move a mountain. These types of books and perspectives energise you when you feel exhausted,” says Sharda, who, along with his long-time friend from his teenage years, Souvik Sengupta, built the start-up from a Rs12.5 crore company to a Rs14,500 crore multi-product platform in just about 8 years. The team’s hunger to keep disrupting the construction market is palpable in the way the company expanded its operations from supplying concrete to creating modular kitchens.
“Infra.Market, registered as Hella Infra Market Ltd, takes care of the product needs of the infrastructure and real estate industries with a product portfolio spanning across 15 categories,” says Sharda, company COO, an IIM-A alumnus who started his career by working with his uncle, a Tata Steel distributor. It was there that he realised the huge scope for selling multiple products – even steel – as the building materials industry was packed with inefficiencies. “It was founded to address these loopholes in a highly fragmented and unorganised industry,” says Sharda who, hailing from a middle-class family, had to take gold loans and borrow money to set up the bootstrapped company. “I was lucky that my in-laws also helped me by mortgaging their house,” he recalls. While other players were simply connecting buyers and sellers, Infra.Market sought to disrupt this model by integrating technology and offering both commerce and convenience on one platform.
For instance, he realised from his uncle’s steel customers that they needed concrete, and that sparked an idea. The ready-mix concrete (RMC) business was highly fragmented. It is a highly perishable product and must be cast within three hours of its production which makes it a hyper-local product by nature. “I realised the potential for an organised concrete platform (pun intended) and began offering the services with instant success,” he says.
Successful business model
“Our business model combines manufacturing with distribution, allowing us to control the supply chain, resulting in higher-quality products and timely deliveries,” he says. This model has proven successful, with 64 per cent of the company’s revenue coming from its own private-label brands, which offer higher margins compared to the 36 per cent generated from distribution-led products.
“The core of our growth strategy is capturing the highest wallet share from each project,” says Sengupta, co-founder and CEO of Infra.Market. Offering products ranging from foundation to finish, including concrete, tiles, and autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks to consumer durables, Infra.Market supplies a wide range of building materials throughout the entire construction lifecycle. “We are present at every stage, starting with concrete and then supplying other products as the project progresses. This helps us build strong, long-term relationships with clients, as we continue to meet their evolving needs,” says Sengupta, an IIM-Bangalore alumnus and a chartered accountant.
“Our platform plays a critical role in demand generation by tracking the progress of each project. As construction advances, our tech-enabled system identifies when new products are required, allowing us to pass on leads across different verticals. This integration ensures that we capture more opportunities within each project, driving both upselling and cross-selling,” says a camera-shy Sengupta who leads the company’s strategic growth, focusing on mergers, acquisitions, and strengthening its financial foundation.
As a building materials platform, he says, Infra.Market enhances its one-stop solution proposition by expanding the product categories, making it easier to capture a larger share of customer spending. “The business model is built on a combination of technological efficiency, broad product offerings, and a manufacturing powerhouse, all of which help us achieve higher wallet share and establish ourselves as a leader,” he explains.
“We began making profits right from the first year and continue to do so despite the industry ups and downs,” says Sengupta, who, being a qualified CA, handles the finances too. The top line and the bottom line doubled for the first 3 years and rose by leaps and bounds in the years that followed.
This was why private equity investors started taking an interest in the company. To begin with Accel Global, which wrote the first cheque for Flipkart, Swiggy and BookMyShow, agreed to invest Rs25 crore for a 22 per cent stake in Infra.Market after a brief but rapid-fire session in June 2019, at a valuation of about Rs100 crore.
Prashanth Prakash, Partner - Accel Global, is all praise for Infra.Market for “breaking new ground and setting a new paradigm for how multi-category brands can be built”. Accel money helped Infra.Market heave a sigh of relief and Sharda cleared his loans and his in-laws’ flat got the no-dues certificate.
“I don’t think there’s any player in India with private labels at this scale. Additionally, a multi-category approach is more common in FMCG, not in infrastructure,” Prakash says.
As Infra.Market founders smelt business opportunities, they started making strategic investments in companies such as RDC Concrete, Shalimar Paints, Emcer, Millennium Tiles, and Amstrad, which helped transform the construction industry with technology-driven solutions. It made a strategic investment in Shalimar Paints in 2022 and attained a majority stake in 2024.
“With a robust network of over 10,000 retail touchpoints, more than 30 exclusive flagship stores, and over 300 manufacturing units, the company enhances operational efficiency across the value chain,” says Abhijeet Jhawar, Chief Marketing Officer.
Nothing succeeds like success and PE interest in Infra.Market flowed in at quick intervals, post the Accel seed funding. Within six months of this, the company’s valuation has doubled with a Series A funding of Rs150 crore in December 2019 by Accel, Tiger Global & Nexus Ventures. Series B funding of another Rs150 crore came in during December 2020.
Infra.Market achieved unicorn status in February 2021 with the Series C round of Rs770 crore – led by Tiger Global with participation from other existing investors Accel Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Evolvence India Fund, Sistema Asia Fund and Foundamental GmbH – on a $1 billion valuation. In August the same year, Series D followed with the infusion of Rs1,087 crore at a Rs17,707 crore valuation.
Educating customers
“We are delighted to partner with Souvik and Aaditya in the growth journey of Infra.Market, which is reshaping India’s construction materials supply chain,” says Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global Management. “With pioneering technology innovation and the ability to stitch together private-label brands, Infra.Market is positioned for strong growth, healthy economics, and profitability,” adds Shleifer.
“Infra.Market is transforming the building materials industry with our innovative approach,” explains Jhawar. “For instance, our in-house brand, Ivas, derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nivas’ (meaning home), provides a comprehensive solution for home improvement and renovation,” he says, adding that, “within just 2 years of its launch, Ivas has become a Rs1,000 crore brand, a remarkable achievement that has taken decades for many established brands to reach.”
“Our marketing strategy targets all customer segments, from large contractors to individual homeowners. We do not just sell products; we educate our customers through simple, engaging campaigns and films. For example, our ‘Naye Zamaane Ka Wood’ campaign for MDF, a greener and better option than plywood, helps consumers understand its benefits. Similarly, we promote the shift from traditional red bricks to the much better, environmentally friendly, globally accredited AAC blocks through an engaging campaign that highlights their strength and durability with the tagline ‘Majboot Blocks, Majboot Deewarein,’ positioning them as a modern alternative,” adds Jhawar, an ex-Piramal hand.
In the tiles market, Infra.Market differentiates itself by offering three distinct brands, each catering to different customer needs: Emcer, with five manufacturing units, pioneered the launch of large slabs; Ivas, with six manufacturing plants, is a mass-premium brand offering both quartz and larger tiles; and Millennium, with 13 manufacturing units, focuses on the mass market and is widely used across projects.
On the brand identity, he says the company’s concrete division is easily recognisable through distinct orange and green transit mixers and silos, symbolising the commitment to building a differentiated identity while delivering the best quality. “We aim to change the industry by offering sustainable, high-quality products that appeal to both businesses and homeowners,” he says.
Pralhad Mujumdar, COO, Concrete, Aggregates, Construction Chemicals, and former CEO of ACC for 8 years, says he never imagined RMC could experience such exponential growth, especially in a country like India, where consumption was low. The focus always remained on cement growth numbers, he says. But Infra.Market proved to be a big game-changer as the founders “inspired us to think bigger and embrace disruptive innovation,” says Mujumdar, who joined Infra.Market 3 years ago. “This shift in mindset allowed us to achieve industry leadership positions in states such as Karnataka. Today, we are proud to announce that Infra.Market has become the second-largest player in the RMC sector in just 3 years of operation,” adds Mujumdar.
Hemaraju Vasanthakumar, Lead Project Management Consultant, RKV Developers, Bengaluru, says his company was tasked with creating one of the largest factories in India, which had numerous technical requirements. Infra.Market was a new player in the market and was also growing aggressively. “We decided to offer them about 100,000 cubic metres of concrete over 24 months, and they set up an RMC plant at our site, which reduced lead times and ensured the flow of concrete was fantastic,” he says.
“They did an excellent job, supplied on time, and their team was very capable. More importantly,” says Vasanthakumar, “they listened to us, came to discuss the challenges, and we worked together to find solutions. Based on their performance, I strongly recommend them to anyone looking to execute large-scale projects.”
Parvesh Kumar Singh, Project Head, Raymond Realty, says the company has been sourcing high-grade concrete (M40, M50, and M60) from Infra.Market for over 3 years, with the quality being excellent. “The Infra.Market staff is highly technical and proficient, and the coordination has been excellent as well,” says Singh.
Infra.Market operates more than 200 concrete plants, with a combined capacity exceeding 20 million cubic metres annually. Its infrastructure clients include the Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway, Navi Mumbai International Airport, Adani LNG Terminal, Dhankuni-Kharagpur National Highway, naval bases for the Indian Navy, Coastal Railway, Indian Railways, Kempegowda Airport Bengaluru, and metro projects in Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad, and Chennai, as well as the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
In the tiles category, the company boasts more than 16 factories in Morbi, with a production capacity of over 60 million square metres annually. It is India’s largest manufacturer of AAC blocks, with nine plants capable of producing 2.4 million cubic metres of AAC blocks each year. “I could never have anticipated the rapid adoption of Grade 1 AAC blocks over traditional red bricks,” admits Pankaj Phadnis, COO, AAC Blocks, who came to Infra.Market after 30 years in leadership positions at top cement companies. He is full of praise for the “unconventional approach and relentless innovation” by Sharda and Sengupta, as the company now holds the top position in the market, with nine state-of-the-art facilities for walling blocks and a production capacity of 2.4 million cubic metres. “Our Grade 1 AAC blocks align with global trends, providing sustainable, next-gen solutions that reduce carbon footprints,” Phadnis says and declares: “I am proud of our role in driving this transformation.” Phadnis joined Infra.Market 5 years ago.
Benefitting all
“A notable highlight is the company’s growing profitability margins, driven by an increasing share of its private-label brands. The construction materials industry has historically been fragmented and slow to embrace technological innovation, presenting a unique opportunity for disruption,” notes Satya Kaliki, Chief Technology Officer, Infra.Market. “We are optimising the supply chain, empowering manufacturers, and building an ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders. From concrete and AAC blocks to ceramics and paints, Infra.Market is the one-stop solution for the construction industry across India. Our in-house technology includes tools like Phoenix Customer Central, Phoenix Sales Navigator, Phoenix Risk Radar, Phoenix Product Planner, and Phoenix Operations Hub, giving us a competitive edge by automating and optimising day-to-day operations. Through apps like Elevate and Rise, we are reshaping sales, field operations, credit management, and customer experiences, driving a technological revolution that’s transforming the industry,” he explains.
While the competition focused on capturing a larger market share in a single category and a B2B strategy, Infra.Market distinctly focused on expanding its wallet share across projects. With its unconventional approach and innovative strategies, Infra.Market serves as a one-stop solution, disrupting the industry by catering to infrastructure, real estate, and retail customers alike. The company ensures a seamless and comprehensive supply of construction materials under one roof. “This integrated approach positions Infra.Market as a leader in multiple categories within the industry,” says Sharda.
The Indian building materials market is a massive, fast-growing market fuelled by government initiatives, with significant white space to be captured. The residential market is seeing strong expansion as income and urbanisation increase.
Sheetal Bhanot-Shetty, Chief Human Resources Officer, Infra.Market, says: “Culture is the bedrock of our success. Our business model empowers employees’ professional and personal growth, offering the support they need to evolve and build their careers.” Bhanot-Shetty, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in applied psychology and organisational behaviour, followed by research methodology and statistics from TISS, Mumbai, adds: “At Infra.Market, we live this belief every day,” and explains, “as we embrace digital transformation, innovation thrives in our people, and our entrepreneurial spirit drives the company’s exponential growth, creating a truly unique organisation.” With nearly three decades of expertise across sectors including manufacturing, FMCG, hospitality, consulting, financial services, and construction solutions, she drives strategic leadership by aligning HR practices to fuel growth.
“Our commitment to continuous learning, development, and inclusion is central to us. We invest in programmes that help our teams grow and prepare for the future. Through initiatives like IM (Infra.Market) Nirmaan, we uplift marginalised communities by equipping them with industry-relevant skills, promoting socio-economic growth and inclusion,” adds Bhanot-Shetty.
Within the industry, Infra.Market is also reshaping the workforce with a focus on inclusivity. Creating all-women plants in traditionally male-dominated sectors and integrating people with disabilities (PWD) into the workforce provides equitable opportunities at every level.
The plant at Mundwa, Pune, employs 10 women. “Our structured mentorship, training, and leadership programmes ensure that talent from all backgrounds thrives,” she says. “What excites us most is how our people’s fresh perspectives drive innovation and growth while keeping us rooted in our core values. Their diverse talents, combined with agility and leadership, enable us to navigate market shifts with confidence. Continuous development and inclusive practices ensure our growth is not just fast, but sustainable. This commitment to empowering every individual propels our success, fostering a culture where every voice matters. At the heart of everything we do, our people are the true brand ambassadors, shaping our future and leading us towards continued excellence.”
The company’s community engagement aligns its CSR initiatives with SDGs, focusing on skills development, vocational training, gender equality, and rural development. It has already provided skills training and upskilling to over 1,800 candidates across 58 batches, covering trades such as electricians, masons, plumbers, painters, and RCC workmen across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, apart from training women from tribal villages and helping them secure placements. It has conducted awareness training for over 500 people on government social security schemes such as Yojana Card and medical insurance schemes, ensuring their registration. It is also engaging with engineering colleges to spread awareness about the RMC industry and promote skill development through industry-academia interactions.
Whistleblower Policy
“Our Whistleblower Policy promotes transparency and accountability within the organisation,” says Sharda. The company provides a safe and confidential mechanism for employees to report any unethical behaviour, misconduct, or violations of company policies without fear of retaliation. “The policy encourages open communication, and regular awareness sessions and town halls help employees understand the process, ensuring a secure environment for raising concerns,” he explains.
Concrete is typically the first product needed in any commercial, infrastructure, or residential project, and with over 230 RMC plants, Infra.Market secures early-stage entry into these projects. As construction progresses, the need for other products such as AAC blocks, plumbing, tiles, sanitary ware, paint, MDF, plywood, electricals, modular kitchens, and appliances follows sequentially.
Shekhar Sati, COO-Wood at Infra.Market, says: “The wood panels industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, driven by a growing demand for top-tier products and innovative solutions. With my extensive experience, I have gained a deep understanding of the rapid evolution within the industry. Since joining Infra.Market, I have witnessed us take bold steps forward. We have established cutting-edge facilities in Rudrapur and Yamunanagar, with plywood production of around one million boards per annum and MDF production of approximately 100,000 cubic metres annually. Additionally, we have plans to expand MDF capacity to 220,000 cubic metres per year within the next year,” he says.
Appreciating the founders’ leadership in unlocking this success, Sati says their strategic vision has positioned Infra.Market to not only meet the rising demand for MDF, plywood, and laminates but also take a commanding lead in the market as it continues to grow.
“With its in-house technology, Infra.Market captures project progress at every stage, allowing each business vertical within the company to pass leads to the next vertical when a new product is required. This enables the company to cross-sell its extensive product mix, which includes over 15 product categories. With more than 300 manufacturing units, Infra.Market ensures timely product supply, effectively upselling multiple categories and increasing its wallet share within each project,” says Kaliki.
In terms of its demand generation engine, Infra.Market’s strategy revolves around taking a higher share of wallet at the project level. This is achieved by offering a broad range of products, ensuring the same project generates higher revenue for the company. Additionally, Infra.Market has a well-distributed network of dealers who help supply smaller projects locally, increasing revenue and expanding its reach. The company has prioritised owning its manufacturing capabilities and private-label brands over a pure marketplace model to ensure timely supply. However, 36 per cent of the business is still distribution-led. “To aggregate demand at the project level, Infra.Market uses a smart platform approach that combines its private-label brands with distribution brands,” adds Kaliki.
Depending on the size of the project, supplies are made directly from the company or via its dealer network. As the company continues to add more product categories and manufacturing capacity, the contribution from private labels will increase, significantly boosting EBITDA margins, since private labels are more profitable than distribution-led brands. “This model demonstrates that Infra.Market’s integrated platform approach, supported by its manufacturing capabilities and higher private-label contributions, is more efficient and profitable than a pure marketplace model in the building materials industry,” says Jhawar.
“The construction industry had limited tech interventions until 2016,” recalls Sharda. “Early-stage tech players in this space were primarily discovery platforms, allowing buyers and sellers to locate each other and submit or receive RFPs. However, the actual business transactions and closures typically took place offline after this stage. Infra.Market has revolutionised this behaviour. With its own manufacturing and a house-of-brands approach, Infra.Market has ensured that not only discovery but also commerce takes place through the platform.”
Models like Home Depot have succeeded in developed countries, and platforms like Infra.Market are now taking the lead in India. Sharda points out that given the distorted distribution network in India, Infra.Market’s own manufacturing and in-house logistics capabilities allow it to better integrate its platform with project timelines, ensuring a more efficient and streamlined process.
Infra.Market began its B2B2C expansion in FY2019 with the launch of its second product, AAC blocks, sold through a vast network of cement dealers, in addition to direct supply to projects. A significant portion of these sales was made to individual home buyers (IHBs).
Expanding offerings
The next major B2B2C product launched was tiles, which also had strong IHB sales through architects and home interior contractors purchasing from tile dealers. From FY2021 to FY2024, Infra.Market continued to expand its B2B2C offerings, introducing products such as pipes and fittings, MDF, plywood, sanitaryware, bath fittings, and electricals. Later, modular kitchens, appliances, and hardware were added. The acquisition of Shalimar in 2022 further expanded the dealer network, significantly boosting growth. “The dealer count has grown steadily through organic expansion from FY2019, with a notable spike in 2022 following the Shalimar acquisition,” says Sengupta.
Infra.Market’s infrastructure story is another exciting aspect of the company’s rapid progress. “We entered infrastructure projects primarily through the supply of ready-mix concrete (RMC), which is needed right at the excavation stage of most projects,” says Sharda.
Typically, these projects issue concrete purchase orders (POs) to multiple vendors to ensure a steady and reliable supply, as any delays or quality issues with concrete can severely affect project timelines. The RFP process for RMC involves the site engineer specifying the required grade of RMC, followed by the procurement team seeking price quotes and assessing the proximity of suppliers, such as Infra.Market, to determine cost and supply certainty.
Infra.Market’s wide network of 220+ RMC plants often places it on the shortlist for about 50 per cent of the projects it pitches for. Once Infra.Market is shortlisted, it provides quality certificates and samples for approval, and the procurement team negotiates the price, the COO explains.
Infra.Market has a high conversion rate – over 40 per cent – when shortlisted for projects, with competition typically coming from local unorganised players offering lower prices. Once Infra.Market secures the concrete purchase order, it often becomes easier to supply additional products, like AAC blocks, which are needed after concrete. The RFP process for these additional categories follows the same structure as the project progresses. “Due to its early involvement in the project and wide product offerings, Infra.Market maximises its supply share, demonstrating the power of its platform business model. Its dedicated sales teams, integrated tech products, in-house manufacturing, and logistics ensure timely supply and offer a competitive edge in securing and growing its share across multiple projects,” adds Sharda.
For instance, the Infra.Market team supplies ready-mix concrete (RMC), aggregates, paints, and various other building materials to several prestigious national projects, including the Navi Mumbai airport and metro projects.
“Our revenue growth is enabling us to capture a larger share of customer spending. While focusing on increasing our wallet share within projects by cross-selling and upselling our existing range, we are also concentrating on entering new markets and offering more value to our customers by strengthening our manufacturing capabilities and improving supply chain efficiency,” he says. “As awareness of our platform continues to grow, we are confident that we will maintain steady expansion by driving consistent growth and delivering more value to customers and partners. This approach allows us to capture more of our customers’ spending by offering a seamless, all-in-one solution across many categories.”
In the concrete business, Infra.Market has already gained the number two rank nationally as it sends over 10,000 despatches daily across 22 states, and its clients include L&T, Zoho, Godrej Properties, Leighton, and Sobha Realty. UltraTech Cement tops the list.
In walling, it tops the charts as the company educates customers on replacing red bricks with much lighter and environmentally friendly AAC blocks. AAC blocks are twice as light as traditional red bricks. Their lightweight nature also reduces the overall load on a building’s structure, allowing for more efficient construction. AAC blocks are environmentally friendly as they are made from natural materials like lime, sand, cement, and water, and the manufacturing process produces fewer carbon emissions compared to traditional brick production. Furthermore, AAC blocks have excellent thermal insulation properties, which help in energy conservation and reduce the need for additional heating or cooling, making them a sustainable choice for modern construction.
Steel plays a crucial role
Ramesh Raina, President, Steel at Infra.Market, says: “Infrastructure is crucial for the development of any country. Our founders envisioned becoming a key contributor to infrastructure development in India. Steel obviously happens to be one of the major ingredients of infrastructure development,” he says. “We at Infra.Market made a humble beginning by collating the requirements of small players who required steel but did not have adequate resources to manage their businesses. We established contacts with the mills to discuss and serve the requirements of these small players. This type of arrangement enabled us to accomplish a respectable business volume, thereby prompting the dynamic founders that we have to invest in brownfield/greenfield projects to scale up the business volumes, which are going to be close to one million tonnes in the coming 18-24 months. In this direction, we have also set up a state-of-the-art and most modern service centre in Taloja, near Mumbai, which helps us better serve our automotive and engineering sector customers. We take pride in saying that we have been able to create a significant position for ourselves by serving the projects involved in the construction of roads, railways, metros, flyovers, bridges, power plants, and more, cementing our position as a trusted player in the industry.”
“Infra.Market is still scratching the surface, and there is a lot to achieve,” says Sengupta. For instance, global adoption of RMC is 65 per cent, whereas in India, it is just about 25 per cent. The majority of the fragmented Indian industry still relies on mixing at site. His vision is to streamline the ecosystem, from everyday materials to complex solutions, ensuring better efficiency and accessibility for all stakeholders.
Sharda hopes that the shift towards new-age products is bound to happen, as mixing concrete at project sites is a labour-intensive process, and as the scale of operations grows from two- or three-floor buildings to skyscrapers. Increased awareness and focus on environmentally friendly alternatives will also drive market opportunities.
“We have developed a one-stop shop for all building material needs through a huge variety of products and our experience centres,” says Sharda. “I can design your house without the involvement of any external contractor or even an electrician, as my in-house designers can help you,” he adds as he takes Business India on a conducted tour of the large centre at his Thane office near Mumbai. The display of products includes tiles, sanitaryware, modular kitchens, furniture, architectural hardware, paints, decorative electricals, laminates, mixers, grinders, and even electric irons. The B2C segment forms just about one per cent of the company’s business.
Spreading its wings, Infra.Market has already launched trading operations in Dubai, Singapore, the GCC, LATAM, and the US. Exports include tiles, steel products, and chemicals. It has set up a Singapore subsidiary to consolidate its global business.
Infra.Market is now preparing for a listing on the bourses and is working on its papers to be filed with the market regulator SEBI. It has raised Rs1,050 crore in its pre-IPO funding round, which witnessed participation from prominent investors such as Tiger Global, Evolvence, Foundamental GmbH, Ashish Kacholia, Nikhil Kamath, Abhijit Pai, Sumeet Kanwar, Nuvama, Capri Global, and others.
They are all still working on the offer document and the IPO timeline. Recent filings indicate a post-money valuation of Rs24,147 crore. In its 2024 fiscal report, Infra.Market achieved revenues of Rs14,530 crore, with an EBITDA of Rs1,050 crore and a PAT of Rs378 crore. The impressive performance places Infra.Market among the few profitable startups in the sector, with a strong focus on its own manufacturing and proprietary brands, an analyst says.
Urbanisation in India over the next five decades will be one of the country’s most pressing challenges, with an estimated 500 million people expected to enter urban areas, says former NITI Aayog CEO and G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant. “India will have to create a new Chicago every 5 years,” says Kant.
With rapid urbanisation, the demand for housing, offices, and other real estate asset classes is expected to increase in the long term. The UN has projected that there will be eight cities with a population of over 10 million by the year 2035 in India, highlighting the unmet housing demand. Given the vast population in India, there exists a significant housing shortage, with a big gap between demand and supply of affordable housing, both in terms of quantity and quality. In 2012, the urban housing shortage of 18.78 million units increased to 29 million units in 2018, 54 per cent higher than in 2012, according to a report by ICRIER Research, 2020. It is estimated that the demand for urban housing will increase to 38 million units in 2030, as per the Planning Commission and ICRIER Research in 2020.
Demographic shifts
The real estate market in India has grown at a CAGR of approximately 11 per cent, from $50 billion in 2008 to $180 billion in 2020, and is expected to further reach $1,000 billion by 2030 and touch $5,800 billion by 2047. By 2025, it is estimated to contribute 13 per cent to the country’s GDP, according to IBEF.
It is a globally established fact that demographic shifts fundamentally affect the demand for real estate. Along with the rising population, India’s urbanisation rate is also increasing at a fast pace. As per UNDP projections, by 2046, approximately 50 per cent of the population in India will be urban. However, rapid urbanisation is expected to drive the demand for housing, offices, and other real estate asset classes in the medium to long term. UNDP has projected there will be eight cities with a population of over 10 million by the year 2035 in India, highlighting the unmet housing demand.
The Indian real estate sector has witnessed consolidation in the past few years. With the implementation of RERA, financially weak developers were unable to adhere to compliance norms and were therefore either going out of business or consolidating with larger players. The liquidity crisis further worsened the situation for such developers, resulting in an increase in the share of new launches by branded developers. According to Anarock, the share of new launches by Tier-1 developers increased from approximately 41 per cent in 2015 to approximately 56 per cent in 2018, which further increased in 2019 due to the liquidity crisis.
“Unlike previous years, developers are now launching projects that truly meet market demand,” says Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman - ANAROCK Group. “These new projects are not only in prime locations but also feature the right unit sizes and configurations. Leading developers are actively acquiring land in key cities to launch residential projects tailored to customer preferences. According to ANAROCK, 2024 saw at least 133 land deals totalling over 2,515 acres, with 1,948 acres designated for residential development.”
On the infrastructure front, the government aims to construct a 200,000 km national highway network by CY25, expand the number of airports in India to 220, operationalise 23 waterways by CY30, and promote the PPP model. The Bharatmala Pariyojana is progressing, with Phase 1 focusing on developing 34,800 km of national highways, emphasising corridor-based development, and is set to conclude by CY27-28, covering 31 states and over 550 districts.
The Industrial Corridor Development Programme, partnering with state governments, aims to develop industrial corridors and boost manufacturing growth. In this context, the Sharda-Sengupta duo finds tremendous opportunities for Infra.Market, and they are just “scratching the surface”. They plan to enhance visibility through private labels, resulting in strong brand recall, adopt a geographic expansion and multi-channel strategy by steadily focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and newer markets, sell multiple products to existing customers and gain wallet share, reap the benefits of a diversified platform, and keep building their manufacturing capabilities.