August 14th, 2025: EBG Realty, one of India’s leading premium real estate development and advisory firms and the real estate arm of the diversified EBG Group, has announced a strategic partnership with Alba Homes, a leading Dubai-based real estate company under Alba Corporation. Announced just days before India’s Independence Day, this collaboration reflects the growing confidence of Indian investors in global markets and expands their freedom to access high-potential international opportunities.

Dubai’s property market is witnessing unprecedented growth, with Indian investors emerging as the leading force behind foreign acquisitions, accounting for over 22% of foreign property transactions and investing more than AED 35 billion in 2024. The partnership comes at a pivotal time. With deep understanding of the Indian real estate landscape and a growing presence in the UAE, EBG Realty is well-positioned to meet the increasing demand for global property investments. Partnering with Alba Homes will give Indian buyers access to Dubai’s thriving market through an advisory-led approach that includes exclusive listings, local insights, and end-to-end transactional support.

Speaking on this partnership, Mr. Sunil Shankar, CEO of EBG Realty, said, “EBG Realty has built a strong reputation in India for connecting clients with premium real estate opportunities. As we approach Independence Day, we see this as a moment to encourage financial independence for Indian investors, helping them explore high-quality properties and promising investments beyond our borders.”

Luis do Carmo, CEO of Alba Homes, added, “We are thrilled to join forces with EBG Realty to create a bridge between Dubai and India’s investors,” said Luis do Carmo, CEO of Alba Homes. “Dubai’s real estate market is flourishing, and through this partnership, Indian buyers will have unparalleled access to our portfolio of properties and trusted expertise. Alba Homes prides itself on innovation and integrity in the UAE, and with EBG’s strong presence in India, together we will ensure a seamless, rewarding experience for clients looking to capitalize on Dubai’s growth.

The partnership will deliver a full-service investment journey for Indian clients, from personalised property selection and virtual tours to legal consultation and transaction management. To further engage Indian investors, EBG Realty and Alba Homes will host exclusive property showcases and investment seminars across major Indian cities, presenting curated opportunities across Dubai’s most desirable residential and commercial hubs.

By combining EBG Realty’s experienced advisory team and strong national network with Alba Homes’ diverse Dubai portfolio and local expertise, the collaboration aims to make cross-border real estate investment more accessible, transparent, and rewarding for Indian investors.

Mumbai, 14th August 2025: In a move as bold as it is rooted, Ugaoo — India’s #1 gardening company — has announced beloved actor and pop culture icon Jackie Shroff as its brand ambassador. This collaboration with the well-known actor marks a pivotal moment for Ugaoo as it evolves from a green brand adored by urban audiences to a cultural mainstay across India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities.

Having spent a decade cultivating a greener India, Ugaoo has played a key role in shaping how urban Indians perceive and interact with nature in their everyday lives. The brand has steadily built emotional equity through a strong content-first strategy, using storytelling, community-driven campaigns, and relatable plant care content to make gardening less intimidating and more joyful for everybody. Ugaoo’s digital presence has fostered a loyal, plant-loving community that sees houseplants not just as décor but as meaningful companions, symbols of personal growth, and tools for emotional expression.

As Ugaoo enters its next phase of growth reaching deeper into the heartland, it needed more than a campaign; it needed a cultural bridge. Jackie Shroff, the beloved Bollywood actor and original green crusader, fits this role seamlessly. Known for his earthy authenticity, irreverent charm, and lifelong love for plants, Jackie has always walked the talk. From arriving at events with a spider plant slung around his neck, spreading the green message far and wide, to nurturing his own organic farm, his connection to nature is both personal and deeply profound.

Moreover, Jackie’s legacy as a pop culture icon with a devoted fan base that cuts across age groups makes him the perfect ambassador for Ugaoo, a brand that resonates equally with Gen Z, millennials, and older generations. His persona is timeless, his appeal is cross-generational, and his relevance in India’s cultural imagination makes this collaboration a natural fit.

“Jackie Shroff is not just a face, he’s a feeling. For years, we’ve worked to make plants a part of India’s emotional and cultural fabric. And Jackie embodies everything we believe in: he’s playful, rooted, and passionately green. There is nobody we would have worked with in this capacity — it was Jackie or no one. As we prepare to expand across Bharat, his presence brings instant relatability, timeless credibility, and a refreshing sense of fun to our story,” said Siddhant Bhalinge, Founder & CEO of Ugaoo.

Jackie’s association with Ugaoo launches with a high-impact campaign film conceptualised by Thought Over Design and produced by Cathect Studios. Set in a cozy living room, the film opens on a dramatic note with a distraught plant parent grieving over her wilted Alocasia. Jackie consoles her in his signature style, ordering a fresh one from Ugaoo, with the promise of a longer and healthier plant for life. The film ends with the unforgettable line, “Ugaoo, Bhidu, Ugaoo,” blending emotion, humour, and plant care into a perfectly potted story.

Speaking of the association, Jackie Shroff said, “Plants aren’t just decor; they’re companions, therapy, and a connection to life. Putting my hands in the soil brings me peace. Associating with Ugaoo is a no-brainer; they’re spreading a green movement across India. Together, we’re nurturing a generation that values nature. I’m glad to be a part of this mission, inspiring others to live rooted and connected.”

This collaboration is more than a celebrity tie-in; it’s a cultural moment. It signals Ugaoo’s ambition to embed itself into the everyday lives of Indians by using plants not just as décor but as emotional connectors. The brand is also tapping into a growing trend: making plant gifting a thoughtful, lasting alternative to traditional gifts like flowers and chocolates, symbolising care, growth, and continuity.

Whether it’s a spider plant sent as an apology, twin succulents exchanged as modern-day friendship bracelets, or a potted pothos marking a couple’s first home together, Ugaoo is redefining how India expresses emotion. Plants, unlike other conventional gifts, last longer, grow with you, and become shared symbols of care and connection.

Simultaneously, Ugaoo continues to champion gardening as a mental wellness ritual. With more people seeking mindful habits in their fast-paced urban lives, simple acts like watering plants, nurturing leaves, and watching something grow has emerged as a powerful, grounding routine.

With over 1 million customers and a growing footprint across e-commerce, q-commerce, and offline stores in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru, Ugaoo is now primed for outsized scale. Jackie’s association marks the beginning of a series of initiatives, from new product formats to regional storytelling, that will cement Ugaoo’s position as India’s most culturally relevant and emotionally resonant green brand.

As India begins to view plants not just as purchases but an integral part of how we live, love, and heal, Ugaoo — with Jackie Shroff by its side — is here to lead the way.

New Delhi, 14 August 2025: India’s cleanest seafood brand, Dam Good Fish is turning up the passion in home kitchens with its new launch, “7 Days, 7 Craves”. It includes seven new bold, regionally inspired flavours, each designed to correspond to a day of the week, with a uniquely craveable seafood experience.

Inspired by regional favorites like fiery Andhra-style Masala Fry, tangy Konkan Green Chilli Fish, and rich Goan Recheado Bangda, Dam Good Fish is introducing seven bold new flavors: Chili Garlic, Garden Mint, Cajun-Spiced, Kali Mirch, Smoky Charcoal, Achari, and Spicy Grill. These twists offer a fresh take on everyday seafood and elevate every meal with effortless flair.

“We wanted to solve the weekday dinner problem with something exciting, but easy,” shared Shailesh Patel, Co-founder of Dam Good Fish. “By launching seven new flavour variants, each rooted in India’s diverse regional culinary traditions, we’re making it easier—and tastier—for people to fall in love with fish again, and hopefully, with fish forever.”

Each variant under the 7 Days, 7 Craves campaign is designed to deliver freshness, flavour, and convenience in every bite. Made with naturally grown or wild-caught fish that are completely free from antibiotics and preservatives, each product is paired with authentic, clean-label marinades crafted from traditional Indian spices. Curated by expert chefs, these pre-marinated, ready-to-cook options ensure quick, fuss-free meals without compromising on taste or quality. Every catch is sustainably sourced from India’s freshwater dams, guaranteeing 100% freshness while supporting responsible fishing practices.

Dam Good Fish continues to stay true to its mission—delivering ethically harvested, high-quality seafood while supporting local fishing and farming communities.

Whether you’re a working professional short on time or a home cook craving variety, 7 Days, 7 Craves is set to become your new weekly ritual.

Ace Blend Secures Pre-Series A Investment from Fireside Ventures to Disrupt India’s Nutrition Industry

Mumbai, August 13, 2025: Ace Blend, India’s leading science-backed nutrition powerhouse, today announced an investment from Fireside Ventures, India’s premier consumer-focused venture capital firm.

Shivam Hingorani, Founder of Ace Blend, closely examined the Indian nutrition space. What he found were products with low efficacy and unsubstantiated claims that were big on promises, not on results.

Ace has been revamping India’s supplement landscape, backed by over 25 years of global expertise from a leading R&D and product design giant in their vertical integration. Pure focus on using clinical-grade ingredients and extraction technologies have become the backbone of Ace Blend’s results-driven formulations.

“We’re not here to sell hope in a bottle,” said Shivam. “Our mission is to deliver real results. With Fireside’s backing and the best global R&D muscle behind us, we’re ready to scale and show the country what real nutrition looks like.”

“Every ingredient, every dose, every claim we make is backed by clinical research,” added Saif Mehkri, a founder with expertise in R&D who Ace Blend onboarded as Co-Founder in 2022. “Indians deserve health outcomes that people can feel, measure, and trust”

Fireside Ventures, the force behind Mamaearth, BoAT, and 40+ brands in its portfolio across different consumer domains, has been watching Ace Blend’s explosive growth and identified it as a perfect fit. Their decision to invest in them was also triggered by Ace’s strong performance.

“India has hundreds of nutrition-supplement brands, yet only a select few deliver precise dosing, clinically-backed efficacy, and full raw-material traceability. We see the next breakthrough coming from premium formulations in convenient formats—and Ace Blend is uniquely positioned to provide exactly that to Indian consumers” , said Dipanjan Basu, Partner and Co-Founder at Fireside Ventures.

Ace Blend has skyrocketed from ₹1.9 Cr to a projected ₹55 Cr in just three years — charting over 250% growth in year one, nearly doubling in year two, and now scaling more than 4X this year with their pre-series A + angel round funding of $3.3 million, with an additional $5.7 million in the pipeline. The brand is redefining what effective nutrition looks like in India. 

This funding unites three giants, all set to raise industry standards.

Mumbai, 13 August 2025: Between the end of 2021 and mid-2025, India’s most dynamic housing micro markets have delivered remarkable gains for both homeowners and investors, finds latest ANAROCK Research data. In some areas, property prices have nearly doubled; in others, rents have climbed at a pace that outstripped inflation by a wide margin. The twin forces driving this surge – strong employment-driven demand and steady infrastructure upgrades — have given rise to markets where both capital appreciation and rental values growth are driven by location dynamics, connectivity, and economic momentum.

For a broad overview, ANAROCK has studied capital appreciation and rental value growth trends across 14 of the most active (in terms of supply and sales) micro markets in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, and Chennai – and unpacked the reasons behind their performance.

National Post-Pandemic Snapshot

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Group, says, “The recovery that began in 2021 was driven by pent-up demand, record-low interest rates, and a structural shift toward homeownership after the pandemic. In the early recovery years, annual rental increases of 12–24% were common in prime employment hubs. By H1 2025, rental growth had moderated nationally to 7–9% — still ahead of consumer inflation, but a lot more sustainable.”

“Capital values followed a similar trajectory of rapid appreciation between 2021-2023, followed by steadier gains as new supply hit the market and buyers became more price sensitive,” says Puri. “Notably, infrastructure-led markets (those benefiting from new metro lines, expressways, or new planned tech hubs) continued to defy this cooling trend.”

Bengaluru: Sarjapur Road and Thanisandra

In India’s tech capital, two pockets have outperformed even the city’s robust average growth.

Sarjapur Road has long been part of Bengaluru’s eastern IT corridor, but the promise of the Red Line Namma Metro—connecting Hebbal to Sarjapur—has fuelled a fresh wave of interest. Between 2021 and Q2 2025, property prices here jumped 79%, while average 2BHK rents climbed 81% to ₹38,000 a month.
Thanisandra Main Road, in the north, has mirrored this trajectory with capital gains of 81% and rents up 65%. Its proximity to Manyata Tech Park and improving road connectivity have made it a magnet for mid-to-upper-income IT professionals.

Both areas also benefit from constrained land availability, which has kept the market tight, and speculative buzz around projects like the proposed ‘Swift City’ mega-tech hub in Sarjapur.

Hyderabad: HITECH City and Gachibowli

Hyderabad’s western corridor has cemented its place as one of India’s most resilient real estate sub-markets.

HITECH City, the city’s tech heart, recorded a 70% rise in property values and a 58% jump in rents over the past three and a half years.
Gachibowli, just next door, surged even more—capital values up 87%, rents up 66%. Its appeal lies in a concentration of multinational campuses, international schools, and premium residential complexes.

Even as national rental inflation has eased, these two pockets continue to post double-digit annual increases thanks to unrelenting demand from a growing IT workforce and the scarcity of ready-to-move-in apartments.

Pune: Hinjewadi and Wagholi

Pune’s performance underscores a familiar pattern: a mature IT hub supported by a fast-growing affordable fringe.

Hinjewadi, home to the city’s largest IT park, saw prices rise 40% and rents climb 60% since 2021. While rental growth has slowed since late 2024, demand remains stable thanks to a steady influx of young professionals.
Wagholi, further out but well-connected to the city via the Nagar Road corridor, matched Hinjewadi’s capital gains but outperformed on rentals with a 69% increase. Its relatively lower buy-in cost has made it a preferred choice for first-time investors seeking yield.

NCR: Sohna Road and Noida Sector-150

The National Capital Region’s story has two distinct threads – established corporate corridors and new-age investor magnets.

Sohna Road in Gurugram blends both worlds: strong corporate leasing nearby and improving connectivity via the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway linkages. Prices are up 74% since 2021, while rents have climbed 50%.
Sector-150 in Noida is the standout nationally. Its property values have soared 139% in just over three and half years – the fastest among all micro markets in this study – fuelled by new township projects, greenfield planning, and investor enthusiasm. Rents here have also surged 71%, reflecting demand from both working professionals and end-users drawn by its planned open spaces and sports facilities.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region: Chembur and Mulund

In land-starved Mumbai, price growth in suburbs with improved transport access has been striking.

Chembur, once a relatively under-the-radar suburb, has been transformed by the Eastern Freeway and Metro Line extensions. Prices are up 53%, and rents have grown 46%.
Mulund, a gateway between Mumbai and Thane, has seen similar capital gains (50%) but slower rental growth (32%), partly due to higher starting rental levels. Large-format apartments and better suburban amenities have attracted families upgrading from more crowded city neighbourhoods.

Kolkata: EM Bypass and Rajarhat

Kolkata’s growth story has been steadier – but still rewarding for long-term investors.

EM Bypass benefits from proximity to the central business district and major arterial roads, pushing capital values up 25% and rents up 53%.
Rajarhat, a planned township to the east, has seen stronger capital appreciation at 37%, driven by new infrastructure and corporate presence, alongside 40% rental growth.

While not as spectacular as NCR or Bengaluru, Kolkata’s trajectory underscores the value of planned growth and connectivity.

Chennai: Perambur and Pallavam

Chennai’s two highlighted markets—Perambur in the north and Pallavaram in the south—both owe their performance to excellent transit links.

Perambur has seen prices rise 26% and rents 39% since 2021, supported by suburban rail and metro access.
Pallavaram, near the airport and GST Road, posted a 24% price gain and 46% rent increase, appealing to both airline staff and IT professionals working in the nearby OMR corridor.

Why These Markets Outperformed

A few themes repeat across these leading micro markets:

• Infrastructure Investment – Metro lines, expressways, and airport expansions have proven to be the most reliable catalysts for both capital appreciation and rental demand.
• Employment Clusters – Markets anchored by IT hubs or corporate campuses – Sarjapur, HITECH City, Hinjewadi—show the strongest rental growth, a reflection of constant in-migration.
• Planned Urban Development – Locations like Sector-150 Noida and Rajarhat benefit from master planning, green spaces, and large-scale amenities, attracting both investors and end-users.
• Relative Affordability – In cities where core markets are priced out, peripheries like Wagholi, Thanisandra, and Mulund offer more approachable entry points, creating steady absorption.

Outlook 2026

“Looking ahead to 2026, we expect average housing price growth to range between around 6–7%, with rents likely to rise 7–10% – both outpacing inflation,” says Anuj Puri. “Micro markets tied to major infrastructure completions (such as metro lines in Bengaluru and Mumbai, expressways in NCR, and IT park expansions in Hyderabad and Pune) are best placed to sustain above-average gains.”

In India’s real estate market, growth follows infrastructure, and rental resilience follows jobs. For investors, identifying the next wave of connectivity and employment corridors could be the difference between average returns and exceptional ones.

New Delhi, India , August 12, 2025: Pronto, India’s first real-time household help platform, has raised $11 million in Series A funding co-led by General Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital, with continued participation from Bain Capital Ventures (BCV). The investment underscores strong conviction in Pronto’s rapid traction and the vast white space it is addressing in India’s domestic help market. With its 10‑minute, shift‑based model for on‑demand home services, Pronto is building a new urban utility — dependable, trusted, and designed for high-frequency use — at a scale India has never seen before.

Domestic help in India is both ubiquitous and invisible — woven into daily life yet largely absent from the formal economy. For millions of households, finding help still depends on informal networks, uncertain availability, and unverified trust. For workers, the sector often means irregular income and little recognition. Pronto was founded in 2024 to change this equation; to bring predictability, safety, and dignity to a service everyone depends on but few have reimagined. By treating household help as critical urban infrastructure — delivered in minutes, built on training and trust — Pronto is setting a new standard for how cities manage the rhythms of everyday life.

“Pronto is not just another app — it’s architecting an entirely new layer of urban infrastructure for household help,” said Anjali Sardana, Founder & CEO of Pronto. “We’re tackling a sector that has remained unstructured and unreliable for decades — by offering instant, vetted help through a shift‑based model that elevates worker earnings and service trust. With this funding, we’ll deepen operations, build workforce resilience, and prove that household help can scale as a high-frequency utility in India’s most time‑strapped cities.”

Pronto isn’t replicating existing home‑service models; it’s redefining them. Where most platforms act as aggregators, Pronto operates on a shift‑based delivery system that gives workers predictable income and users guaranteed reliability — a first for India’s domestic help sector. Each professional undergoes rigorous training and verification and is equipped to fulfill tasks instantly, creating trust at scale in a category long driven by informal referrals. By embedding quality, speed, and dignity into a single platform, Pronto is carving out a new space in urban life — not just meeting the need for convenience, but turning household help into a high‑frequency utility that evolves with the pace of modern cities.

“Pronto is creating something novel for India: an infrastructure layer for domestic help that brings structure to traditionally informal markets,” commented Neeraj Arora, Managing Director at General Catalyst. “Anjali demonstrates the obsessive focus, clarity of thought, and large-scale vision with urgency that defines what we believe to be exceptional founders. This shift-based model creates predictable incomes for workers while delivering reliability for households, representing the infrastructure-building companies we back: those creating new economic frameworks across India’s expanding urban centers.”

“Pronto’s execution across product and growth is exceptional,” said Paul Hudson, Founder & CIO at Glade Brook Capital. “Anjali and the Pronto team are building stakeholder trust and customer delight through operational excellence and speed. Pronto is not another home-help app – it’s rapidly becoming a consumer infrastructure platform that delivers meaningful work opportunities and helps meet the daily needs of urban families.”

Commenting on Bain Capital Ventures’ early investment in Pronto and their continued participation in this round, Ajay Agarwal, Partner, Bain Capital Ventures said, “When we first invested in Pronto at the seed stage, we saw a rare chance to formalize a service millions depend on yet few had reimagined. In just a few months, Anjali and team have proven that this model can scale — delivering high‑frequency, real‑time help to households while elevating incomes for workers. Our continued support reflects our belief that Pronto is defining a new category of urban utility for India.”

With this milestone, Pronto is accelerating its vision of making household help as seamless and dependable as any other modern utility. Over the next 12-18 months, the company will expand beyond Gurgaon into Mumbai, Bengaluru, and other metros, establishing micro‑hubs across key residential clusters to guarantee sub‑10‑minute fulfillment at scale. The funding will also support the onboarding and training of 10,000 additional professionals, investment in quality‑assurance systems, and rollout of real‑time operations technology that powers Pronto’s shift‑based model. By bridging reliability for families and stability for workers, Pronto is redefining how urban India manages the essentials of daily life — and setting the standard for a category poised for nationwide impact.

12th August 2025 : Recode Studios, India’s fast-growing beauty and skincare brand,is all on an aggressive expansion plan in Gujarat. The brand just opened two new stores in Ahmedabad and Surat to bring international quality products to the people of Gujarat. While Surat got its first store, this will be second Recode store in Ahmedabad. The first Ahmedabad store was opened in March and the brand saw the opportunity to open another store to cater the customers better.

The Surat and Ahmedabad openings reinforces the brand’s retail growth plan across Tier I Tier II and metro cities’. The opening is consistent with Recode Studios’ larger mission to provide research-led, quality, and value-for-money beauty solutions to consumers pan-India. Recode Studios, India’s fast-growing beauty and skincare brand, is excited to launch its new store in Surat, Gujarat. Located at Shop No. G-38, Ascon Plaza, Near Bulkabhavan School, Adajan, Surat – 395009, and the other store located at Shop No. GF-6, Sargam Apartment, Opp Chandan Farm, Nr Satyam Status Satellite Road, Jodhpur Ahemdabad, 380015, the stores mark a strategic foray into one of Gujarat’s trend-conscious and beauty-conscious consumer groups.

Designed to offer a luxury and interactive retailing experience, the store has the company’s entire range of best-selling makeup and skincare products under one roof. Designed specifically to focus on Recode’s philosophy of affordability, inclusivity, and innovation in order to give world-class beauty solutions to all, not just the elite class, the store offers an end-to-end product experience with hands-on and experiential involvement.

Mr. Rahul Sachdeva, Co-Founder of Recode Studios, said, “Gujarat has always been a state that celebrates beauty, individuality, and self-expression. With this new store, we’re creating more than just a retail space; we’re building a community hub where customers can explore, experience, and engage with our brand firsthand. This marks an important milestone in our retail journey, and there’s much more to come.”

The store is a stunningly edited environment in which consumers are able to discover, learn about, and purchase Recode’s clean beauty and performance products. With each Recode store, the Surat and Ahmedabad stores are the physical manifestation of the brand’s desire to forge genuine relationships with consumers through the combination of globally quality products and a personal, local touch.

With this rollout, Recode Studios is yet again positioning itself as a popular next-generation Indian beauty company that sits at the nexus of world standards and local sensitivities. By foraying into physical stores in city limits like Surat and Ahmedabad, Recode is not just developing awareness but also consumer trust through direct experience and service.

New Delhi, August 11, 2025: Grovy India Limited, a BSE-listed South-Delhi headquartered real estate company, on Friday announced its first quarter earnings for FY26.

The company’s total revenue jumped by 538% to Rs 8.3 crore in Q1 FY2026 as compared to Rs 1.3 crore in the same period last year.

The net profit of the company rose to Rs 1.1 crore in Q1 FY26 from a loss of Rs 25 lakhs in Q1 FY25.

The company had recorded Rs 1.8 crore in net profit for the full financial year FY 2025.

The company’s revenue more than doubled between FY23-25 to Rs 26.4 crore for the full financial year FY 2025.

Ankur Jalan, CFO, Grovy India Limited said, “The company foresees a strong demand for its luxury projects in the coming quarters. Grovy has also partnered with a real estate Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) the Golden Growth Fund (GGF) to focus on the South Delhi market. The company has a strong pipeline of projects.”

“South Delhi is an end-user market that has tremendous demand owing to limited supply. Having already carved a niche in South Delhi with products that cater to the uber-luxurious and niche homebuyers, we are confident that with the strong pipeline of projects, we will present unparalleled opportunities for homebuyers.”

Grovy India Ltd is a Real Estate Development and Consultancy Company established the year 1985. Grovy has completed more than 100 projects.

The company works under the outright model where it buys the property and constructs the building to sell. It also operates under collaboration model where it purchases a portion of the land in exchange for constructing the property. It also works under the turnkey model where the property owner appoints the company to design and build as per the client’s needs.

The total assets of the company have increased by an impressive 59.76% to Rs 49 crore in FY25 indicating significant growth and expansion.

The company is undertaking the development of over 1 lakh sq. ft premium luxury boutique apartments in the South Delhi.

Mumbai, 11 August 2025: The mounting trade tensions between India and the United States post the imposition of 50% tariffs are just trade disruptions. If not negotiated into moderation, they will massively impact many critical, yet vulnerable sectors that drive India’s affordable housing segment.

Dr. Prashant Thakur, Executive Director – Research & Advisory, ANAROCK Group, says, “This category of homes priced INR 45 lakh or less was already gravely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and is still struggling to find any semblance of firm ground. Trump’s mercenary tariffs will snuff out even the dimmest ray of hope for this segment.”

India’s affordable housing segment is mainly driven by demand coming from the country’s MSMEs and SMEs which, despite their relatively modest scale, are deeply integrated into India’s export ecosystem. Their workforces are the primary clientele for affordable housing.

ANAROCK data finds that as of H1 2025, the sales share of affordable housing has dropped to mere 18%, or approx. 34,565 units of a total of 1.90 lakh units sold in the top 7 cities. The fact that affordable housing had an overall sales share of more than 38% in 2019 shows just how badly its momentum has faltered.

The post-pandemic demand decline in this segment, which caters to approx. 17.76% of India’s population of about 1.46 Bn, clearly reflects in the drop in supply of affordable housing. Its share of the total launches has plummeted from 40% in 2019 to just 12% in H1 2025.

MSMEs are a critical demographic of India’s economic landscape. Among its top employment and exports generators, they are India’s economic backbone. According to government estimates, MSMEs currently contribute nearly 30% to India’s GDP, and over 45% to its exports.

In exports, MSMEs have proliferated 228% in just the last four years – from 52,849 in FY 2020-21 to 173,350 in FY 2024-25. Together, MSMEs and SMEs formally and informally employ over 260 million Indians, particularly in labour-intensive industries like textiles, engineering goods, auto components, gems and jewellery, and food processing. When it comes to India’s growth story, editing out the SME/MSME chapter causes the entire narrative to collapse.

So far, the global economy presented a major opportunity to Indian MSMEs to seize new export markets, build global supply chains, and diversify revenue streams. The new tariff imposition, if it takes hold, puts a roadblock on what should be a no-limits speedway – and a chakka jam on the affordable housing vehicle that drives the homeownership dreams of the largest lower quadrant of the Indian population.

“Because of the disruption in this large workforce’s future income thanks to the tariffs, affordable housing demand may very possibly derail and further impact sales in this highly income-sensitive segment,” says Dr. Thakur. “Concurrently, such a drop in demand will curtail launches by developers, who will have to contend with tighter working capital due to lower sales. As it is, they have been grappling with serious input cost inflation since the pandemic.”

Housing finance institutions that cater to this segment’s home loans will look at a growing risk – of defaults at worst, and dampened disbursements on account of lower demand at best.

In short, the fate of India’s affordable housing segment hangs in the balance. How the government addresses the issue through coordinated policy, fiscal safeguards, and buyer-focused support measures will be pivotal. Affordable housing, the erstwhile poster child of a massive electoral exercise and the mainstay of every Indian’s dream of a financially stable future, hangs in the balance.