Rustomjee’s Boman Irani bets on ₹5 crore housing market, says ₹1– ₹3 crore segment will ‘always be the darling’ in Mumbai

Boman Irani said his focus in Mumbai’s real estate market is on the ₹5 crore housing segment, which he sees as a steadily expanding opportunity

Boman Irani, CMD of Mumbai-based listed real estate developer Keystone Realtors Ltd, also known as the Rustomjee Group, said his biggest bet is on the ₹5 crore apartment market, while the ₹1 crore– ₹3 crore range will ‘always be the darling’ for him to sell.

Pune real estate market foray: "We are exploring projects for Pune currently, and any new entry in a new city will not happen immediately, but only by next year," Boman Irani, CMD of Rustomjee Group said. (Rustomjee Group)

Asked whether sales have softened in Mumbai’s real estate market, Irani noted that demand varies by location. “In certain pockets, interest is very high; in others, not so great. In the mid-mass and aspirational segment, ₹1 crore to ₹7 crore, demand remains high, but supply is not adequate. And whenever you say for Mumbai, when you hit the sweet spot of ₹3.5 crore to ₹5 crore, we find a good amount of interest,” he said.

Highlighting the diversity of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Irani described it as “eight to nine markets in one,” with a wide range of sizes, price points, and requirements. “If you can identify where your product will work, you will be able to sell over time. My big bet is on the ₹5 crore sweet spot, which I see as a steadily growing market in Mumbai, while ₹1 crore to ₹3 crore will always be the darling,” he said.

Pune real estate market foray

The Rustomjee Group also plans to foray into the Pune real estate market. Irani told HT.com last week that the company is currently exploring two potential land parcels of around 100 acres for a township project in the Pune real estate market.

This will be the third city for the company to enter after it announced its foray into the Nagpur real estate market around three months ago.

"We are studying two proposals right now in a joint development (JD) model for the Pune real estate market, and I can say they are for a size of around 100 acres. We want to do township, and that is what we have done in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). I am not saying we did 100 acres in MMR, but large projects," Irani said.

"We are exploring projects for Pune currently, and any new entry in a new city will not happen immediately, but only by next year. We have announced a project in the Nagpur real estate market, and we will soon announce the launch of that first and later get into Pune. However, it goes without saying our major focus remains to be MMR and redevelopment of old buildings in MMR," Irani said.

Focus on redevelopment

The company has announced three redevelopment projects for its Mumbai portfolio during the first quarter of FY26. These include GTB Nagar, Lokhandwala Cluster, and Swarganga CHSL, adding 3.25 million sq ft of saleable area with an estimated GDV of ₹7,727 crore.

In total, the company has around 18 ongoing projects in MMR, measuring around 8.61 million sq ft and has 26 projects upcoming, of around 23.79 million sq ft.. 16 out of these 26 projects are in the price range of ₹1 crore to ₹7 crore.