Delivering happiness, Brick by Brick.

Ignoring everything that consumerism or marketing has to offer, deep inside, what does an average Indian work for? I thought that it was the feeling of completeness, happiness, or respect was something that an average guy worked for. But I was wrong. Even though people want this, it is secondary to buying a house. Yes, that's true. In India, buying real estate comes way ahead of self-esteem or respect. We can do anything to get a house. We can keep jewelry as collateral for buying that 1RK that will uplift our self-esteem in the society. We will work day and night to earn extra income, only to lose it on a big down payment. This unspoken rule of attaching our self-worth and self-respect was something that Mr. Runwal also felt. Subhash Runwal, a middle-class boy who left a job in the US and came to Mumbai in 1967 to start his own real estate company, sits on a massive fortune of $1 billion as of February 2024. 

This man has truly taught me a very valuable lesson: to dream big and work for that dream until it becomes a reality. A simple yet powerful lesson. Today, the Runwal group is one of the most trusted real estate builders, an adjective that isn't prevalent among the real estate sectors. The group has delivered 45 projects to over 35000 families. Currently they have 14 ongoing projects out of which, 5-6 are in the luxurious locality of South Mumbai. Let's start the story from Dhulia, Maharashtra. 

One of the five siblings, born on 25th March 1943, Ruwal comes from the Jain community who grew up in Dhulia. His grandfather was a Jeweler. By the time he become a teenager, his family had fallen on hard times. The young blood left his hardscrabble existence in Dhulia and went to study commerce in Pune. Falling for his first love that was numbers, he decided to pursue Chartered Accountancy and moved to Mumbai in 1964. His first job at Ernst & Ernst landed him in the US. Surprisingly, he left the US in 6 months and came back to Mumbai. A son who had seen his family struggle in the past when it came to buying a house, had decided to start his own real estate company which offered premium quality at affordable rates. 

His first abode as a young lad was a modest studio in Mumbai’s Kurla area, not far from where Runwal now has his 1.2 million-square-foot RC City Mall. He rented the "one-room kitchen” after landing a job as an accountant at a chemical firm. A can-do attitude helped him acquire a reputation as the go-to guy for dealing with hidebound bureaucracy. Since he spoke Marathi fluently, he was able to strike a rapport with local bureaucrats and politicians. “All impossible tasks were given to me,” recalls Runwal. One of them was lobbying the government to ban the import of chemicals which the company was manufacturing. He recalls, "It took 52 trips to Delhi over one year for me to secure the crucial ban". Mr. Runwal was a parttime diplomat. 

As his company started minting profits, Runwal too moved up a bit in life and shifted into a two-bedroom apartment in Ghatkopar, followed by a larger home in Deonar. India had a law called Urban Land act of 1976, which Mr. Runwal was familiar with. Under this law, the government-imposed limits on land ownership and had the power to acquire vacant urban land. Runwal acquired his first plot of 22 acres in Thane, an area that was eventually to become his stronghold. He made a killing on his first property deal and never looked back. His specialty was to buy litigious plots, which had fallen into the ambit of the land ceiling law, and then work his way into getting the titles cleared. His first project was a modest 10,000sq ft block in Thane called Kir0tikar Apartments. He went on to acquire land from the Cama family of the Bombay Samachar Group, including a six-acre plot in Pune, which now houses Runwal Estate. 

Putting his name on his projects, Runwal got known for providing low-cost apartments aimed at the middle class. One notable project called Runwal Nagar in the suburb of Thane is a cluster of 16 buildings, constructed in 1981. Within 18 months of the initial sale, the price had more than doubled. “Our customers were people who had never owned their own homes before. They would come to my office with boxes of pedhas and touch my feet,” he says.

Even as Runwal was building his real estate empire, he harbored a dream of becoming an industrialist. He got into manufacturing by acquiring units in steel and pharma, but those businesses unraveled. He eventually sold out and renewed his focus on real estate. While his Runwal Group still builds middle-class housing, it has now moved up several notches; it has projects in tony South Mumbai where it is building luxury residences for the ultra-rich. The entry of his two B-school sons in 1995 marked the beginning of a new era. The family entered the mall business. The 250,000-square-foot R Mall in Mulund was the group’s first. It opened in 2002 amid much fanfare, with Amitabh Bachchan as the chief guest. Along the way, with his influential networking and speaking skills, he managed to get the backing of the Singapore government's GIC, which invested in RCity mall in Ghatkopar. 

Runwal says completing projects on time is critical to his business. “My projects never get stuck for approvals. Nothing is impossible,” he claims. Lately, Runwal has been picking up big plots in suburban Mumbai, such as a 35-acre plot in Kanjurmarg from Crompton Greaves and a 65-acre piece from Gammon India in Dombivli. The patriarchy says his efforts are now directed to giving back to the society. He has built 2 hostels in Navi Mumbai and offers education scholarships to the less well off. 

From having fought for living in a rented apartment to managing a real estate portfolio that spreads across a few million square feet, Mr. Runwal has come a long way. Everyone is fascinated by the gigantic size and marvelous architecture of Mannat (SRK's residence), but what people unknowingly ignore is another architectural marvel right next to Mannat, which is where Mr. Runwal resides. A sea facing house in Bandra worth a few hundred crores. Now that I have mentioned SRK, I can't stop reciting a line from one of his famous movies, Om Shanti Om. I think the line was said especially for Mr. Runwal. It goes like, 

"Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho, tho puri kainaat usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai. Akhir mai saab accha hi ho jata hai. Aur accha na ho, to wo end nahi. Picture abhi baki hai mere dost". 

Happy Investing.