The ₹3 crore sweet spot: How Signature Global cracked Gurugram

He checked out a few projects, including a couple by prominent developer M3M Group. Then, in February, he attended a property exhibition at a hotel organized by Square Yards, a proptech platform, which was promoting projects by another developer, Signature Global (India) Ltd.

Bhardwaj ended up booking a three-bedroom apartment on the spot, at the developer’s newly launched Sohna Road project named Signature Global Daxin. He paid around ₹2.12 crore, including goods and services tax charges.

Did the purchase tick all the boxes he was looking for?

“The developer is a listed company. I did my research and found out about their land bank, cash flows, debt and what they delivered in the last 10 years," Bhardwaj said. “There were no red flags."

Property buyers such as Bhardwaj have become more cautious in recent years. Over the last decade, the National Capital Region (NCR), once India’s largest property market, got rocked by a string of real estate scandals. Years of unchecked expansion, diversion of funds and land-buying frenzy had led to many real estate firms—Jaypee Infratech, Unitech, Amrapali Group and Supertech, among others—falling from glory, leaving thousands of homebuyers stranded.

In this backdrop, Signature Global’s quiet rise has been nothing short of spectacular.

Launched by a first-generation entrepreneur, the Gurugram-based company commenced operations only in 2014, but solidified its position as among the largest real estate developers in the region within a short span of a decade. In fact, in 2024-25, its sales bookings of ₹10,290 crore made it the fifth-largest listed real estate developer by sales in the country, after Godrej Properties, DLF, Lodha Developers and Prestige Estates Projects.

Signature Global had listed in September 2023, raising ₹730 crore.

The relatively new entrant didn’t have the brand value of a Godrej, the premium positioning of a DLF or even the 40-year-old legacy of Prestige. So, what worked in its favour?

An affordable start

Pradeep Aggarwal was in his late teens when he started his own commodity trading business. He then ventured into the capital markets, where he gained experience in brokerage and arbitrage, before heading the arbitrage division at SMC Global.

When the Haryana government’s Affordable Housing Policy (AHP), 2013, was announced, Aggarwal studied it closely, and spotted an opening.

Signature Global, the real estate company he founded, bought a little over six acres at Sector 107, Dwarka Expressway, Gurugram, and launched its first project named Solera in 2014. The project had 1,000 affordable housing units, each costing about ₹25 lakh.

The response was overwhelming. The company received more than 3,000 applications.

“We were completely new to the market—no brand name, no prior experience," Aggarwal, also the chairman of Signature Global, told Mint.

Keeping this in mind, the developer zeroed in on affordable housing where the competitive intensity was less. “We wouldn’t have to worry much about people’s brand-specific perceptions either," Aggarwal added.

Back-to-back, up until 2020, the company launched more than 18,000 affordable housing units, priced at ₹25-50 lakh, and often saw the same pattern—whenever it launched a project, it was oversubscribed.

The switch

The pandemic upended the housing industry, resulting in a change in customer preferences and cost metrics. Customers started gravitating towards larger apartments, and, at the same time, rising costs and changing government regulations squeezed developers’ margins. All of a sudden, the golden goose of affordable and lower mid-income housing didn’t seem that golden.

Signature Global needed to pivot. It started building larger homes at higher prices in the mid-income and upper-mid-income categories, in Gurugram again.

The company actively bought land, when prices were under control, and kept launching projects. Of the 150 acres it acquired on Sohna Road, bordering Gurugram and Sohna, it launched the 125-acre township Daxin, mentioned earlier. Another 140 acres in Manesar, Haryana, was developed for plotted sales.

“Our original segment—affordable housing—became less viable as land prices rose along with overall industry costs. It’s no longer as profitable as it was 5-8 years ago," said Rajat Kathuria, chief executive officer (CEO), Signature Global. “So, we pivoted from being an affordable housing player to a mid-income housing company with a strong delivery track record."

“Gurugram has been starved of supply for many years. Prices have shot up because for a long time, they had been stagnant," Samir Jasuja, founder and CEO, PropEquity, a data and analytics firm, said. “If the city could get affordable housing supply, sales would be even more. Today, most of the new inventory being launched here is above ₹5-7 crore. But units priced at ₹2-3 crore remain a sweet spot," he added.

Now, that is Signature Global’s sweet spot, too. Its sales target for 2025-26 is ₹12,500 crore. The developer hopes to generate this by selling homes at ₹2-4 crore, in Gurugram’s Southern Peripheral Road, Dwarka Expressway and Sohna.

In a November report on the company, Parvez Qazi and Vasudev Ganatra, analysts with Nuvama Research, stated that given DLF was largely focusing on the luxury segment, a gap existed in the mid-income and premium housing segment in Gurugram. “We believe Signature Global has nicely filled this gap, evident in its scorching growth post-FY21," they noted.

The land edge

If Mumbai is the country’s most valuable property market, then Gurugram is its newest luxury hotspot.

The pandemic saw a sharp spike in demand for gated communities in Gurugram. It is the only city outside of North America with two residential Trump projects.

The city sold apartments priced at ₹5 crore and above, for a cumulative value of ₹79,603 crore, in 2024, the highest among the top five metros—others being Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Noida—as per PropEquity. Weighted average prices have appreciated by more than 100% since 2020 in Gurugram.

Now, every big developer wants a larger share here. DLF dominates in the premium and luxury segments, while Godrej Properties has launched a few projects. Bengaluru’s Prestige Estates wants to make it big in the city, too.

In this scenario, land acquisition at the right price has worked for Signature Global.

In real estate, where land is considered as raw material, a big factor in the success of any developer is the price paid for acquiring land. On average, land- and approval-related costs for Signature Global are 10-15% of the selling price, as per the Nuvama report. The bulk of the land has been procured at much lower costs while sales realization in the Gurugram market was much higher.

Typically, in prime areas, land costs can constitute 30-40% of the selling price.

Up until 2019, when Signature Global focused on affordable housing, it acquired land at affordable rates, too. Part of the land was acquired under the Haryana government’s affordable housing scheme, Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana. Post-2020, when it switched focus to mid-income and premium projects, land was bought at market rates. As a result, the developer’s land capital expenditure has risen steadily.

Going forward, Signature Global plans to spend ₹1,000 crore annually in acquiring land.

Launches are key

After a ‘growth on steroids’ period, sales have slowed this financial year.

In the first half of 2025-26, Signature Global has achieved only 25% of its ₹4,800 crore revenue guidance for the full year. It expects revenue momentum to pick up in subsequent quarters driven by completion of under-construction projects. Revenue is recognized based on project completion milestones.

Upcoming project launches hold the key to meeting its annual sales targets. After launches worth ₹4,000 crore in the first half the year, the company expects to roll out nearly 8 million sq. ft of new residential projects, with a gross development value of ₹13,000-14,000 crore, by March-end.

Key risks

While the going still is reasonably good, analysts are worried about a key risk—Signature Global’s concentration in the Gurugram/Sohna markets.

The big spike in property prices has led to people speculating about a new real estate bubble in the market. Aggarwal believes the ultra-luxury or luxury segment may see a softening, but not the upper-mid-income and mid-income categories. Here, supply is still short of demand.

In key housing launches, it is sticking to its sweet pricing point of ₹3-4 crore.

“This ₹3-4 crore price per unit gives us an advantage. There is no production of inventory at this price and in such large numbers from branded developers," Aggarwal said.

The company is now looking to expand in Delhi and Noida— the upcoming airport in Jewar has made Noida a booming real estate story. However, the cost of land acquisition in Noida has soared too, and the opportunity to buy is also limited. Land parcels are available on Yamuna Expressway, and the company is working on it, the founder said.

Nonetheless, there are other headwinds.

“The company’s pre-sales are heavily dependent on launching new projects, as it has very low inventory remaining in its ongoing projects. Any delays in approvals or launches could result in the company failing to follow its collection guidance," said a report by Axis Direct.

The big question

Despite record-high sales figures and a launch spree, the next critical question for leading developers remains their ability to execute and deliver.

“Despite increased launches after 2020, the pace of growth in construction has been stagnant across most cities. This is a major risk," said Pankaj Kapoor, founder, Liases Foras Research. “Factors such as approval delays and labour shortages have impacted construction. But this will result in delayed revenue recognition, higher need for construction finance and project delays," he added.

The country’s best-selling developer, Godrej Properties, for instance, has set an ambitious project delivery target of 10 million sq. ft in 2025-26. But it has delivered only 3 million sq. ft in the April-September period. The developer’s revenue in the September-ended quarter fell 32% on account of lower delivery.

Now, can Signature Global do a better job?

The company delivered around 1.4 million sq. ft in the first six months of the fiscal year and aims to deliver 8.9 million sq. ft of ongoing projects over the next five to six quarters.

It used aluminium formwork technology (commonly known as Mivan, it is a pre-engineered construction technique) in its affordable projects, and deploys it in its premium projects as well. Mivan technology helps enhance construction speed, ensures better structural quality and enables consistent finishing across projects.

It is now planning to import and integrate building technologies such as precast concrete systems and 3D concrete printing for future developments.

As Signature Global transitioned from affordable to premium projects, it has also switched to better project contractors. “We have a 600-700 in-house construction team. In affordable housing, we didn’t have the luxury of margin to hire Grade A contractors. But lately, we have hired better contractors. And then, on top of it, we’ve also onboarded Bain & Co.," Kathuria said.

The consulting firm has a mandate to ensure construction-related efficiency.

“How do we further improve our construction excellence? What do more developed markets do? Why does Dubai construct faster than India?," he wondered.

The answers could be key to Signature Global’s future success, in a market that has been the graveyard for many celebrated developers. Kathuria knows these risks well enough.

“The main focus is on execution," he stressed.