Scaling New Heights: Ravindra Kumar VJ

One of the founding employees of Aurobindo Realty since 2017, CEO Ravindra Kumar admits that the ride to the top has been a great one, and he hopes to scale greater heights soon.

"I started this vertical climb from scratch and created the organisation as well as the roadmap for the business at the same time," he tells The CEO Magazine.

In the span of five years since its inception, Aurobindo Realty has made a mark in Hyderabad’s real estate scene, not just with its projects, but also with its passion for modernisation, a trait that the company shares with the city it calls home.

Technology has always been a part of Aurobindo Realty’s operational strategy, and Ravindra says the use of new automation techniques has contributed immensely to the growth of the new company.

New beginnings

Aurobindo Realty was launched by the second generation of the original promoter group, Aurobindo Pharma. "When I started my initial discussions with the promoter of this group, the vision was just to build this organisation to a decent size," Ravindra reveals. "Today, we are looking forward to being one of the top real estate businesses in the southern part of the country."

Aurobindo Realty’s first venture was a commercial high-rise called Galaxy to be built at HITEC City in Hyderabad. "Instead of going the conventional way of construction, we thought of taking the lines of prefab construction," Ravindra explains.

He studied the Indian market for companies that had employed precast technology. "Eventually, we set up a prefab facility of our own on the outskirts of Hyderabad and bought the required machinery from a Finland-based group called Elematic, a pioneer in precast manufacturing equipment."

This prefabricated plant was set up in just five months and it now has the distinction of being the biggest of its kind in India. "Today, Galaxy is the tallest prefab building in India with a height of 107 metres," Ravindra proudly declares.

Following Galaxy, Aurobindo Realty launched another commercial project called Orbit, which also employed prefabricated construction techniques. This was followed by a grand residential project of about 334,000 square metres. "The commencement of this project was during the peak of the COVID-19 wave in May 2020," he adds. "Fortunately for us, we did phenomenal sales on this project."

Today, I'm in a position where the size and scale doesn’t scare me.

Aurobindo Realty also grew from a strength of 15 employees to over 800 employees to work on these projects. "In a nutshell, today we are executing around 3 million metres of saleable space across residential and commercial segments."

Ravindra’s experience in the construction industry has been a major factor for the success of his work at Aurobindo Realty. He has worked on several projects that involved constructing towers throughout India. In his own words: "Today, I’m in a position where the size and scale doesn’t scare me. If people talk about a 55-storey building in Hyderabad, I would’ve done a 70-storey tower in Bombay; so, I can match to that standard and skills."

This confidence is also reflected in Ravindra’s plans for the company’s future. "In the next three to five years, we plan to be number one in Hyderabad’s real estate industry, and we have the plan and scale to reach those levels."

Cementing success

While Ravindra acknowledges that market conditions play a significant role in determining the success of a real estate business, he feels he can be cautiously optimistic in his plans as long as the market situation is at least reasonably favorable. To ensure success, Ravindra believes that businesses should consider where they are focusing their attention.

"My entire business process is customer-centric. That is one of the core values of our organisation," he says.

Technology is another crucial factor that has taken Aurobindo Realty to the level it is today, according to Ravindra. "I always believe in technology," he explains. "I’d like to be ahead of the race only by virtue of technology."

While prefabricated construction is just one example of innovation in real estate, Ravindra lists out several more ways in which his projects are futuristic.

"If you come to our Galaxy Towers, you will be given a QR code beforehand with a designated CarPlay, a car parking slot, for a duration. With a photo identity card of yourself that you can scan at the entrance, it can give you direct access to the designated floor without the typical Indian way of writing visitor slips and handing them over to visitors."

I always believe in technology. I'd like to be ahead of the race only by virtue of technology.

The commercial buildings of Aurobindo Realty are LEED Gold rated and Ravindra has ensured to get the IBGC Green Building Certification for his projects. "We take all measures from the design stage itself to ensure that none of the natural resources get wasted," he stresses. "Recycling and re-harvesting are an absolute must."

Ravindra firmly believes in building a relationship of trust with his supply partners. He values their contribution to the business and says, "I treat my supply partners as my associates and instil the confidence that they are equal partners in this business. At the end of the day, the equation or the partnership should be on a win–win note."

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