India's top real estate developers, including DLF, Godrej Properties and M3M, are competing for prized land parcels to fuel expansion, as steady residential sales and launch momentum squeeze the supply of clean-title plots and push land prices to new benchmarks.
Between 2021 and the January-March quarter of 2026, over 18,100 acres of land changed hands, with Tier 1 cities and residential developments grabbing a lion's share. From 813 acres in 2021 to 6,181 acres in 2025, annually transacted acreage has risen sharply, reflecting the scale, pace and value as land has emerged as the new gold for developers and investors alike, according to property advisory Cushman and Wakefield's latest data.
This week, Gurugram-based M3M India emerged as the highest bidder for a 12.5-acre land parcel in Noida's Sector 108 for ₹1,839 crore, against a reserve price of ₹835 crore set by the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida Authority) for the auction. India's largest real estate company DLF Ltd was the other bidder at the final stage.
The deal comes after Godrej Properties Ltd, India's top-selling residential developer, won a bid for a 4.95 acre parcel in Noida's Sector 151 in an e-auction for ₹331.75 crore.
“This is the fifth consecutive year when all real estate asset classes are performing well. Demand for land is going up because the inventory is being used up, and developers are willing to pay more value to procure land,” Somy Thomas, executive managing director, capital markets, Cushman & Wakefield, told Mint.
Land deals in larger cities are being driven by top developers, while Tier-2 cities are seeing strong buying momentum in industrial real estate, the second-largest category after residential, Thomas added.
Major infrastructure-led growth corridors and emerging urban centres have driven up land prices. The new airports at Navi Mumbai and Greater Noida, both considered affordable property markets compared to their adjoining cities Mumbai and Gurugram, respectively, have led to a significant jump in land prices amid strong demand.
Aggressive land purchases
Among the top- selling listed developers, Godrej Properties followed by Bengaluru's Prestige Estates Projects Ltd have been actively buying land parcels across several cities.
Godrej Properties purchased two land parcels in Kolkata and Gurugram this year for around ₹1,325 crore to develop housing projects. It expects a total revenue of over ₹6,000 crore from both these projects, spread across 16 acres.
Even Kolkata and Hyderabad, considered relatively affordable markets, are seeing land prices climb, underscoring strong demand for premium parcels amid rising valuations and intensifying competition.
Land auctions in Hyderabad's sought-after Neopolis and Golden Mile layout have seen a record rise in prices.
“The demand for land from local and national developers today is very strong. It is evident in the jump in land prices over the years. Even in 2023, the average value of the land we sold was around ₹75 crore per acre,” said Sarfaraz Ahmad, metropolitan commissioner, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
At HMDA’s auction in December last year, Godrej Properties acquired 5.03 acres in Neopolis for around ₹147.75 crore an acre for a residential project targeted at upscale buyers. Not just residential, Prestige's acquisition of an 11-acre plot in Hyderabad’s Knowledge City in Raidurg for ₹1,556.5 crore has put the city at the centre of the commercial real estate boom.
Soaring land prices have prompted developers to focus more on premium housing to improve project profitability and offset higher acquisition costs.
Santhosh Kumar, vice-chairman at property advisory Anarock Group, said land prices in major cities have risen sharply in the last five years.
“Factors such as infrastructure-led appreciation, demand-supply dynamics, premium locations and developer pricing have all contributed to the increase in residential capital values,” Kumar said.
Premium and luxury housing can absorb higher costs as buyers in this category are less price-sensitive.
Godrej Properties, for instance, has been premiumising its portfolio given the demand for premium homes and better margins.
“Earlier, Godrej Properties was doing more mid-income projects. Then, more outright land deals and higher construction costs led to the focus on premium residential development,” Pirojsha Godrej, chairperson, Godrej Industries Group, told Mint in a recent interview.