Nila Spaces has a plan for better living
Realising that the business of real estate is more than just constructing homes, the Ahmedabad-based developer, Nila Spaces Ltd, has sought to carve out a distinct niche for itself centred on wellness, compact luxury, and community-oriented living, with its projects designed to respond to changing urban lifestyles. Its approach is particularly evident in its developments in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), where the company is seeking to establish that smaller homes need not mean compromises on quality, design or lifestyle.
Part of the Ahmedabad-based Sambhaav Group, Nila Spaces, listed on BSE &NSE, was created as the real estate arm of Nila Infrastructures following a demerger in 2018. While Nila Infrastructures remains focused on construction and infrastructure projects, Nila Spaces was established as a dedicated real estate development company, allowing the two businesses to pursue their respective strategies.
The company’s first project after the demerger was an affordable housing development of about 450 units in Ahmedabad. It subsequently moved towards premium, design-led residential development, entering GIFT City in 2021 with Vida, a 496-unit residential project. The 128-metre development, positioned around sustainability and wellness, marked a significant shift in the company’s strategy.
The proposition behind Vida is built around what Nila Spaces calls ‘smart compact spaces’ – homes that combine functionality with premium design. The project offers studios, two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes, with sizes ranging from about 480 sq ft of carpet area for studios to about 1,180 sq ft for three-bedroom units. The company’s philosophy is to separate the concept of luxury from sheer size, arguing that a smaller home can still provide a premium living experience if space is intelligently designed.
That thinking is central to Nila Space’s differentiation. “What sets Nila Spaces apart is its steadfast dedication to liveability over saleable areas,” says Deep Vadodaria, MD & CEO of the company, pointing to its emphasis on community-centric design, natural light, ventilation and wellness-driven architecture.
That philosophy is being taken forward through Prana, the company’s second GIFT City development. With 696 units, Prana is positioned around wellness and longevity living, with homes ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments. The project has been conceived around the optimisation of sleep, air and water, reinforcing Nila Spaces’ attempt to make wellness a core part of its real estate proposition rather than an add-on feature.
Global design
Prana incorporates natural lighting, biophilic design and structured water systems, along with spaces for yoga, meditation, fitness, co-working and social interaction. The development brings together global design and lifestyle partners, including German architectural firm Blocher Partners, brand consultancy Interbrand and concierge services provider Quintessentially.
“The intent behind Prana was to approach urban residential development differently – bringing together design, wellness and sustainability in one integrated space,” Vadodaria had affirmed at the project’s launch. The strategy reflects a broader change in the residential market. Rising property prices have made larger homes increasingly expensive, while younger buyers are becoming more conscious of how they use space. At the same time, concerns around health, stress, work-life balance and sustainability are influencing lifestyle choices. Nila Spaces attempts to bring these trends together in a residential proposition that places greater emphasis on the quality of living rather than simply the quantity of space.
Prana also represents a larger bet on GIFT City’s evolving residential market. The company had acquired the 1.2-acre plot through an auction in July 2024 at a bid of about R352 crore for the land. The development, with a 98-metre structure, is expected to be delivered by 2030. At the time of the company’s management interaction, about 200 of the 696 units had been sold.
Vida, meanwhile, was nearing completion, with delivery expected around Diwali 2026. And 10-12 per cent of its inventory remained to be sold, informs management. Vida is being marketed at about R25,000 per sq ft on a carpet-area basis, compared with about R12,500 per sq ft when sales began, reflecting the sharp appreciation in GIFT City’s residential market.
One of Nila Spaces’ most distinctive initiatives is its partnership with IKEA to offer ready-to-live-in homes at Vida. IKEA has designed and furnished show apartments across studio, two-bedroom and three-bedroom configurations, while homebuyers can opt for IKEA-designed interiors at the time of purchase. Residents can also access IKEA’s design expertise to personalise their homes over time. The IKEA association also fits Vadodaria’s broader view that the home-buying experience needs to evolve beyond the traditional developer-customer relationship.
Nila Spaces’ growth ambitions extend beyond GIFT City. The company currently has nearly one million sq ft of sellable inventory under development across Vida and Prana and aims to expand its development footprint to about 2.5-3 million sq ft over the next four years.
Its focus will remain on wellness-led housing, including vertical developments in integrated townships and horizontal, weekend-home formats. The latter could become an important avenue for geographical expansion. While the company is cautious about becoming a pan-India vertical developer, citing the intensely regional nature of real estate and the need for strong local execution capabilities, it is evaluating locations such as Alibaug, North Bengaluru and the outskirts of Hyderabad for its horizontal or weekend-home model. The idea is to create actual second homes designed for regular use rather than merely selling plots linked to club memberships.
Wellness platform
The strategy reflects the company’s belief that India’s residential market is becoming increasingly segmented, with consumers looking for differentiated products rather than standardised housing. For Nila Spaces, wellness provides a platform for differentiation, while compact premium living allows it to address the practical constraints of urban living and the rising cost of property.
The company’s improving financial performance provides some evidence that the strategy is gaining traction. For 2025-26, Nila Spaces has reported net sales/income of about Rs163 crore, as against some Rs136 crore in 2024-25, reflecting a growth of nearly 20 per cent. Its net profit has also increased to about Rs26.6 crore from Rs15.2 crore in the previous year.
The sales trajectory of its GIFT City projects remains equally important. Vida, which was launched at about Rs12,500 per sq ft on a carpet-area basis, is now being marketed at, say, Rs25,000 per sq ft, while only 10-12 per cent of the inventory remains to be sold, as the project approaches completion. Prana, meanwhile, had sold about 200 of its 696 units at the time of the management interaction. Together, the two projects give Nila Spaces a significant development and sales pipeline in one of India’s emerging business and residential destinations.
The challenge now is to convert this early success into a scalable model. The company has nearly 1 million sq ft of sellable inventory under development and is targeting 2.5-3 million sq ft over the next four years. That expansion will require disciplined land acquisition, strong execution and the ability to maintain sales momentum without diluting the premium positioning that differentiates the brand.
The company’s strategy is closely aligned with the vision of Vadodaria, whose personal interest in endurance running and wellness has influenced the company’s philosophy. However, Nila Spaces’ broader strategy is rooted in what it sees as a structural shift in consumer preferences.
The company is effectively betting that the definition of luxury in Indian housing is changing. Instead of simply seeking more area, a growing segment of buyers may increasingly value better-designed spaces, wellness, convenience, sustainability and community.
For Nila Spaces, the opportunity lies in converting its niche positioning into a broader development platform. If it can successfully replicate its compact-luxury and wellness proposition across new developments, while maintaining financial discipline and execution quality, it could emerge as a different player in India’s increasingly competitive residential real estate market.