DLF's Aakash Ohri says ‘careful, cautious, and confident' about upcoming Mumbai project launch

DLF's joint managing director Aakash Ohri has said that the company is ‘careful, cautious, and confident,’ about the upcoming Mumbai project launch

Ahead of its first project launch in the Mumbai real estate market, DLF's joint managing director Aakash Ohri has said that the company is ‘careful, cautious, and confident’ but not ‘overconfident’ about the upcoming launch in the next few weeks.

DLF's joint managing director Aakash Ohri has said that the company is ‘careful, cautious, and confident’ about the upcoming Mumbai project launch,

DLF has said that the final approval is pending. Once received, it plans to launch its first residential project in Mumbai's Andheri.

On the Mumbai launch, Ohri said, "Doubt is the last thing on my mind. I can promise you very, very clearly, no doubt at all, we are very excited, extremely excited about new geography and new challenges. We are confident and not overconfident."

Ohri added, "I am just careful and cautious. To be cautious cannot be misconstrued as having doubt. If I had a doubt, I would never enter any market."

A long-term player should approach the market like a marathon runner

On the India outlook, Ohri said, “Whether the market is high or low, one has to be careful and cautious. If you are a long-term player, you must be a marathon runner. There are times when you sit down and take a break, and there is no harm in it. But let me say this: the real estate story has begun. The real estate cycle is just three years down now, and If I see data, I feel I clearly have a five-year run subject to several other factors.”

DLF's Mumbai project

The company had said in January 2025 that approvals for its Mumbai project are expected in the next few weeks.

"Three projects, Goa, Mumbai and Privana Phase 3, are all under the approval process. Our current reading of it is that it looks like the Mumbai approval should come hopefully in the next few weeks, and we should be able to launch it. And the other two projects could overflow into the next quarter," said Ashok Kumar Tyagi, Managing Director, DLF Limited, during an investors' call on January 27.

DLF announced its re-entry into the Mumbai real estate market in July 2023. The project will be located in Andheri, in Mumbai's western suburbs. The company has tagged the project as a premium plus project with 3 BHK and 3 BHK plus apartments. In January 2024, the company said that the project in Mumbai's Andheri area will tentatively have apartments in the range of ₹5.5 crore to ₹7.5 crore.

The company is constructing its first project in Mumbai, a Slum Rehabilitation Authority project, in partnership with the Trident Group. and is expected to span nearly 1 million square feet of development.

DLF's re-entry into Mumbai’s real estate market

In 2005, DLF purchased 17 acres of prime mill land in Lower Parel at a National Textile Corporation auction for ₹704 crore, the highest bid at the time. After the 2008 economic crisis, it changed its plans and sold the land to Lodha, also known as Macrotech Developers, for ₹2,700 crore in 2012.