India’s plot developers turn to partnerships to tap growth beyond apartment towers
Cushman & Wakefield said 18,158 acres changed hands across more than 880 transactions in 33 Indian cities between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026.
India’s property developers are expanding beyond apartment towers, using plotted communities and independent homes to reach buyers in emerging cities and to enter unfamiliar markets with local or specialist partners. Two announcements on October 27 illustrate the strategy: Krisala Developers and Hiranandani Communities plan a golf-led township in Nagpur, while plotted developer G Square Group has named JSW One Homes its home-building platform partner.
Cushman & Wakefield said 18,158 acres changed hands across more than 880 transactions in 33 Indian cities between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026. Residential use accounted for 45 per cent of the acreage. The consultancy also recorded an increase in joint-venture and joint-development transactions, from 11 in 2021 to 42 in 2025, as developers increasingly use partnerships to assemble land and share execution risk.
Tier-two cities drive new demand
“Three shifts will define this cycle: corridors alongside cores, scale over fragmentation, and partnership over ownership,” Anshul Jain, chief executive for India and several other regions at Cushman & Wakefield, said in the firm’s September report.
Demand in smaller cities is adding to the appeal. CRISIL Intelligence said residential demand across tracked tier-two cities grew at a compound annual rate of 14 per cent between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2026. Nagpur, Coimbatore and Lucknow recorded growth of about 20 per cent, it said, while warning that affordability and inventory still require attention.
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Separate data from property research firm PropEquity show the scale of the plotted segment. Developers launched nearly 470,000 residential plots, with an estimated launch value of Rs 2.44 trillion, across 10 tier-one and tier-two cities between January 2022 and May 2025.
Nagpur township targets the luxury buyer
Krisala’s Nagpur project illustrates how developers are using partnerships to position land as a lifestyle product. The company, which is based in Pune, is working with Hiranandani Communities through Eleva, the group’s development-management platform. The developers estimate revenue potential at about Rs 2,100 crore. The proposed township is planned to include a golf course, landscaped open spaces, villas, townhouses and 51 ultra-luxury plots, according to the announcement.
For Krisala, the project marks entry into a new city; for Hiranandani, it extends its development-management model beyond established markets. The revenue figure is a projection by the developers, not a measure of sales achieved.
The Samruddhi Expressway, Metro network and MIHAN employment and logistics hub are among the developments the companies cite as strengthening Nagpur’s prospects. Yet connectivity alone does not guarantee housing demand: execution, pricing, approvals and delivery of surrounding infrastructure will determine whether a premium township finds enough buyers.
G Square, JSW One Homes link plots with construction
G Square and JSW One Homes are tackling a different point in the ownership journey. Their memorandum of understanding (MoU) makes JSW One Homes the home-building platform partner for G Square. The stated aim is to help plot buyers move into construction with access to coordinated services, building materials and clearer cost visibility. JSW One Homes offers a technology-enabled platform for individual home construction, while G Square brings its plotted-development and land-aggregation network.
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The partnership addresses a practical obstacle for plot owners: buying land does not resolve the challenges of design, contractor selection, procurement, budgets, quality control or construction schedules. A coordinated platform may make these steps easier to manage, though the MoU itself does not guarantee fixed costs, delivery dates or construction outcomes.
Risks remain
For developers, these arrangements can widen the product beyond a land parcel. A township can be marketed around amenities and a curated lifestyle; a construction tie-up can help plot buyers turn ownership into a finished home, for a more coordinated ownership journey.
The shift should not be mistaken for an exit from vertical housing. Apartments remain suited to dense urban locations where land is expensive and many households need homes close to jobs and transport. Plotted projects require substantial contiguous land and depend on legal title, infrastructure, local planning rules and demand at the right price.
The strategic bet is that India’s housing market is becoming more varied geographically and in what buyers want. Partnerships offer developers a way to test new cities, share risk and connect land, design and construction. Whether that produces durable returns will depend less on the launch narrative than on transparent execution, infrastructure delivery and buyers’ ability to afford the homes being promised.
