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Rustomjee Group explores senior living foray; sees scope for over 5,000 homes in MMR

Rustomjee Group is evaluating an entry into senior living and is open to developing projects independently or with a partner, chairman and managing director Boman Irani said. While the investment and development structure are yet to be finalised, he estimates that Mumbai Metropolitan Region can support more than 5,000 senior living homes.

Irani, who is also chairman of CREDAI National, was speaking on the sidelines of CREDAI NATCON 2026 held in Kolkata.

The group is open to developing the business independently or partnering with a specialist operator. However, it has not yet finalised the investment, project pipeline or partnership structure.

“Mumbai MMR has a possibility of doing 5,000-plus senior living homes. That gives me ample headroom,” Irani said.

Unlike projects developed primarily as retirement destinations outside major cities, Irani expects demand for senior communities within Mumbai and its surrounding metropolitan region.

He said future senior homebuyers would increasingly seek independent living while remaining close to their existing family, friends and social networks.

“I would want my independence, but at the same time I would want to be close to my friends and family. If I am in Mumbai, I would not want to move away to somewhere such as Lonavala. I would want to remain in Mumbai,” he said.

Irani cited India’s ageing demographic profile and changing family structures as factors that could expand demand for organised senior housing over the next two decades.

Organised supply remains limited

India’s population aged 60 years and above is estimated at 166.9 million in 2026 and is projected to reach approximately 347 million by 2050, according to the Association of Senior Living India (ASLI).

Despite this demographic base, the organised senior living sector had only around 25,050 units as of June 2026, translating into penetration of about 1.5%.

The organised inventory grew at a compound annual growth rate of 14.2% between 2024 and H1 2026, compared with 8.5% during 2019-2023. An ASLI-JLL report expects organised supply to increase to approximately 74,000 units by 2030.

A separate estimate by Colliers projects that organised senior living inventory could reach around one lakh units by 2030, while demand could rise to nearly 30 lakh units. It expects the market to exceed ₹1 lakh crore by 2030, compared with around ₹30,000 crore currently.

Colliers also expects real estate developers and investors to deploy more than ₹13,000 crore in senior living projects over the next three-four years.

Developers increase participation

Senior living has recently attracted greater interest from established real estate developers.

DLF claimed to have sold all 172 residences at The Aureva, its luxury retirement living project in sector 63, Gurugram, generating sales of approximately ₹1,985 crore. The project is spread over 4.17 acres and has a saleable area exceeding 7.5 lakh sq ft.

Signature Global has also underwritten two residential towers to a senior living company for a senior housing project in sector 37D, Gurugram.

Ashiana Housing is also expecting senior living to account for a larger share of its sales. Vishal Gupta, managing director of the company in a recent interview with ETRealty had said that the segment contributed about ₹530 crore to bookings last year, representing slightly more than 20% of overall bookings. The company is targeting around ₹750 crore from senior living in the current year. Over the next five years, we aim to increase senior living's contribution to around 50% of its overall bookings, he had informed.

These transactions indicate that senior living is expanding beyond specialist operators into the portfolios of mainstream residential developers, particularly in the premium segment.

Assisted-living infrastructure remains a gap

The expansion opportunity is not limited to age-specific residential development.

Assisted living accounts for less than 10% of India’s organised senior living stock, compared with 24-29% in more mature markets. India currently has only around 2,100 organised assisted-living beds, even as an estimated 8.8 million people live with dementia.

Around 12.2% of senior citizens are estimated to require supportive or palliative care, according to ASLI.

The operating model for senior housing may therefore increasingly require integration of healthcare access, assisted care, emergency support, nutrition and community management alongside conventional residential amenities.

Affordability could remain a key consideration. A Jeevin Consulting study estimated that urban Indians may require a retirement corpus of ₹2.5-6 crore to sustain a comfortable post-retirement lifestyle for 25-30 years, depending on their city, healthcare needs, housing format and level of care.

In ownership-led senior communities, recurring monthly expenses can range from ₹30,000-60,000 in affordable projects to ₹1-2 lakh or more in premium developments. Rental costs can range from ₹20,000-45,000 in affordable communities to over ₹2 lakh in luxury retirement residences.

Rustomjee reports ₹1,423 crore Q2 pre-sales

Keystone Realtors, which develops and sells projects under the Rustomjee brand, recorded its highest quarterly pre-sales of ₹1,423 crore in Q2 FY27, up 84% from ₹772 crore in Q2 FY26.

Pre-sales during H1 FY27 increased 11% year-on-year to ₹2,041 crore, representing around 41% of the company’s full-year guidance.

Collections, however, stood at ₹541 crore in Q2 FY27, compared with ₹669 crore a year earlier. H1 collections declined to ₹1,141 crore from ₹1,245 crore.

The company also added two projects during H1 FY27, comprising 1.41 million sq ft of saleable area and estimated gross development value (GDV) of ₹547 crore.