Return of the Jeh: Bombay Dyeing's sequel is all real estate
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The shift itself isn't new
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The pivot to real estate has been a slow burn
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Jeh's second act
The land advantage
Why now?
The competitive lens
The Blueprint
For more than 150 years, Bombay Dyeing stood as one of India's textile titans, a legacy name woven into the country's industrial story. That era is now in the rear-view. The company is reshaping itself entirely, casting off its textile past to go all in on real estate.Leading this transformation is Jehangir 'Jeh' Wadia, 52, the younger son of industrialist Nusli Wadia. After a four-year hiatus, he's back with a sharp mandate: turn Bombay Dyeing's massive land bank into a serious real estate business under the Bombay Realty brand.'I will be in a strategic role to bring a sharp, defined vision for governance, institutionalisation, and shareholder wealth creation,' Jeh Wadia said in a recent interview at Neville House , the company's Mumbai HQ.This isn't a nostalgic comeback. It's a recalibration, timed just as India's real estate market is hitting historic highs. DLF and Godrej Properties are clocking record bookings. Luxury housing is booming. Bombay Dyeing doesn't want to be left behind.What's different is the scale and urgency.Bombay Dyeing has long struggled to keep textiles profitable.In FY25, consolidated income dipped to Rs 1,732 crore, down from Rs 1,799 crore the previous year. The majority of it — Rs 1,457 crore — came from polyester. Textiles contributed just Rs 47 crore.Real estate brought in Rs 100 crore, but that was a 56% fall, coming on a high base inflated by one-off land deals worth nearly Rs 4,000 crore.Net profit, as a result, crashed 83% to Rs 490 crore.The Wadias have been in the business since the early 1900s, originally building housing for Mumbai's Parsi community. But their real push into real estate came during the 2005–06 mill land boom, when they shifted from selling land to developing it themselves.The trigger was Development Control Regulation 58 (DCR 58), a rule introduced in 1991 to allow the redevelopment of defunct mill land. It remained largely inactive for over a decade due to legal grey areas.That changed around 2005, when a Supreme Court ruling and updated state guidelines finally unlocked its potential, letting mill owners commercially develop part of their land while reserving portions for public housing and open spaces.This set off a construction frenzy across central Mumbai's old mill districts like Lower Parel, Worli and Dadar.Bombay Dyeing, with vast tracts in Worli, Dadar and Naigaon, was well-positioned. Unlike many mill owners who exited or partnered with developers, the Wadias kept control.They set up a dedicated real estate arm in 2008, rebranded it as Bombay Realty in 2011, and launched the Island City Centre (ICC) project in Dadar East, featuring luxury towers like ONE ICC and TWO ICC.Jeh, then managing director, was already steering the group toward real estate.Jeh Wadia first became MD in 2011, stepping in after his brother Ness Wadia. Bombay Realty was launched the same year, signalling his intent early on. But progress was uneven. Much of the division's revenue came from sporadic land sales rather than integrated developments.In March 2021, Jeh stepped down as MD when his contract ended. That also marked his exit from Go First (formerly GoAir), part of a broader move to 'professionalise' the group. The pandemic, and what was reported as a move to London, also played a role.The company operated without a managing director after that. Day-to-day operations were handled by CEO Suresh Khurana and CFO Hitesh Vora, with oversight from a board committee led by Nusli Wadia.Now, in July 2025, Jeh is back, not just at Bombay Dyeing but also in a non-executive role at Britannia. Officially, he says he doesn't need to 'wear the CEO or chairman hat.' But those close to the company suggest he's actively shaping the real estate strategy, working quietly but decisively.Bombay Dyeing's biggest asset is its land. It owns prime plots in areas like Worli and Dadar, some of the most valuable locations in Mumbai. On its website, the company says it is 'transforming and redefining the Mumbai skyline' through landmark projects like Island City Centre in Dadar and Wadia International Centre (WIC) in Worli.In September 2024, the company sold a 22-acre Worli plot to Japan's Sumitomo Realty for Rs 5,200 crore, one of the biggest land deals in India's history, according to the Economic Times.More is in the pipeline.The ICC project alone, spread across 3.5 million sq. ft., is expected to generate Rs 15,000 crore through upscale residences, offices and retail.Rahul Anand, CEO of Bombay Realty, told The Economic Times in 2023 that the company has multiple parcels with a combined development potential of 3.5 million sq. ft.This isn't unfamiliar territory.Jeh sees the upcoming residential and commercial launches at ICC as a natural extension. 'The live-work ecosystem will offer clear land titles, allowing customers to live and work in the same development,' he said.Because the market is exploding.India's real estate sector, worth $320 billion, is projected to hit $1 trillion by 2030. It's being driven not just by housing and office demand but also by REITs, senior housing, and rental portfolios.Shekhar G. Patel, President of CREDAI, calls it a defining moment. 'India recently overtook Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy. This milestone signals not just macroeconomic strength but also immense opportunities for sectors like real estate,' he told Moneycontrol on June 13.Real estate contributed just 1.8–2% of India's GDP in 2012. That figure stands at 8.4% now, with expectations to cross 10% by 2030. CREDAI sees it hitting 13–15% by the end of the decade, tied closely to India's $30 trillion economic vision for 2047.Luxury housing, in particular, is booming. According to a report by India Sotheby's and CRE Matrix, homes priced above Rs 10 crore generated Rs 14,750 crore in just the first half of 2025, a record six-month figure.Between July 2024 and June 2025, 1,335 such homes were sold in Mumbai, netting Rs 28,750 crore. Nearly 75% came from the primary market. Secondary (resale) sales added Rs 3,750 crore, both five-year highs.Worli led with 22% of primary sales by value, followed by Bandra West and Tardeo, which posted 192% and 254% jumps, respectively. Notable transactions included Leena Gandhi Tiwari's Rs 639 crore buy at Naman Xana and other Rs 100–200 crore deals at Oberoi 360 West, Lodha Sea Face, and Bandra West.The UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report 2024 says India now has 185 billionaires, more than double from a decade ago, with combined wealth of $905.6 billion, up 263%.JLL says 62% of homes sold in India's top cities in H1 2025 were priced above Rs 1 crore. CBRE and ASSOCHAM reported an 85% spike in sales of homes over Rs 4 crore.Office leasing is thriving too. According to Knight Frank, India saw 48.9 million sq. ft. of leasing activity in H1 2025, up 41% year-on-year. Bengaluru and Chennai led the charge.India also ranks fourth globally in millionaire count, with 85,698 HNWIs, a 72% rise since 2014. McKinsey projects a further 50% jump in ultra-HNWI numbers by 2028. Luxury housing is now part of a much bigger consumption boom, fuelled by rising wealth and confidence.Godrej Properties had a record Q4 FY25 on paper, with Rs 10,163 crore in bookings. But profits told a more complex story. Despite a 49% jump in revenue to Rs 2,122 crore, net profit fell 19% to Rs 382 crore, hit by rising costs. Margins dropped from 24.1% to 14.4%.Still, the full-year view was upbeat. Net profit nearly doubled to Rs 1,400 crore on annual bookings of Rs 29,444 crore, well ahead of guidance.DLF had an even stronger run. FY25 net profit jumped 59% to ?4,357 crore. Bookings were up 44% to Rs 21,223 crore, beating its Rs 17,000 crore target. Revenue hit Rs 8,996 crore. Gross margins held at 48%, with EBITDA at Rs 3,111 crore. It ended the year with a record Rs 6,848 crore net cash surplus.Two launches, 'The Dahlias' and 'DLF Privana West', alone brought in Rs 13,744 crore and Rs 5,600 crore.All this points to one thing: India's luxury real estate boom is still accelerating.Jeh Wadia isn't here to flip land for a quick profit. He's aiming for something more enduring, consolidation, clarity, and long-term value. His plan: unify the group's scattered real estate ventures under one banner, Bombay Realty.'We have a legacy experience in different areas of real estate, though it was unorganised,' he said. 'The focus now is to institutionalise it under one unified brand. The Bombay Dyeing name must remain relevant for the next generation.''The live-work ecosystem will offer clear land titles, allowing customers to live and work in the same development,' he said.Some of their past work already defines parts of Mumbai: Parsi housing enclaves like Nowroz Baug and Cusrow Baug, the NSE building, Axis Bank HQ in BKC.But Jeh knows legacy alone won't cut it anymore. 'There's a trust deficit between builders and buyers,' he said. 'Our brand stands for integrity, values earned over generations.'Since stepping away during the pandemic, Jeh returns with a more detached mindset. 'My job is to take the personality out of the process. There's no place for emotion in business.'At the heart of his approach is a three-part filter: every project must fall into one of three buckets, strategic, financial, or exit. If it doesn't serve shareholder value, it doesn't make the cut.The 288-year-old Wadia Group includes four listed companies, Britannia, Bombay Dyeing, National Peroxide and Bombay Burmah, with a combined market cap of Rs 1.38 lakh crore.Jeh's immediate focus is to unlock value from land held across the group and within the family, before partnering with external landowners through joint ventures.And while Go First's collapse still lingers, he calls it a 'costly miscalculation' that reshaped his thinking. It drove home the three principles he now swears by: data, transparency and unemotional decision-making.
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