A man’s call for a better planned Gurugram

Mittal moved from Delhi to Gurugram in 2021, soon after, he fell in love with the city’s skyline and pace. However, Mittal believes that pollution, traffic, and planning lapses suffocate the city’s potential.

At 28, Mrinal Mittal represents a new generation of developers who want to reshape the urban story of Gurugram. Mittal moved from Delhi to Gurugram in 2021, soon after, he fell in love with the city’s skyline and pace. However, Mittal believes that pollution, traffic, and planning lapses suffocate the city’s potential.

Mrinaal Mittal. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Born and raised in a real-estate family, Mittal grew up amid conversations on land, structures, materials, and design. These conversations shaped his desire to work in the same field, said Mittal, adding that after studying at IIM Bangalore from 2020 to 2022, he decided to build structures that would reflect his craft and vision.

Mittal says he begins his day with long walks and ends it at the gym. Mittal said, “Fitness is not a hobby but a principle. Money comes and goes. If you lose your health, you lose everything.

“The infrastructure is good, but poor planning kills it all. The city gets waterlogged after mild showers, bottlenecks are regularly seen at crucial intersections, and there is absence of safe pedestrian pathways. We talk about being a global city. But if pedestrians have no space and basic drainage fails every monsoon, what are we really celebrating?”

According to Mittal, cities are not just built, they are imagined, planned and nurtured. And a city’s soul, he believes, lies in its people.

Mittal believes that setting an example is not about perfection—it is about courage. “People dream of being ‘okay’. But why settle? Set an example instead.”

As someone who dreams of building structures that stand tall long after he is gone, Mittal believes Gurugram deserves the same mindset, one that goes beyond profit, paperwork and branding. One that demands accountability in design, intention in planning and pride in the city’s future.

Mrinal Mittal is the outsider who wants people to believe that greatness isn’t built by imitation, it is built in the refusal to walk the path everyone else takes.

(Mrinal Mittal is a resident of DLF 5 and the Managing Director in Unity Group)