Irfan Razack

Category winner: Energy, Real Estate and Infrastructure

Creating a revolutionary real estate brand

A visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper and re-imagines the world, says author Malcolm Gladwell. This aptly describes Irfan Razack, CMD of Prestige Group, as he can envisage ideas and bring them to reality with his exceptional business acumen. The company which he set up more than 36 years ago, is today one of India’s most successful real estate companies. 

Irfan learned the ropes as a real estate dealer, establishing Prestige Group in 1986. A go-getter, he created opportunities as the city of Bengaluru transformed into India’s biggest technological hub.  Prestige Group’s residential journey is one to reckon with and it has a strong presence of delivering around 10,000-12,000 homes annually. The company’s projects are considered to be among the finest in Bengaluru’s residential housing market.

Irfan has many firsts to his name, including envisioning the first shopping mall in Bengaluru ‘Forum Koramangala’ and India’s first luxury mall ‘The Collection’ in Bengaluru. Prestige Estates went for an IPO in 2010, raising INR1,200 crore to fund its expansion and next level of growth. Today, with a market capitalization of close to INR20,000 crores, Prestige Group has its presence in over 12 prominent cities. In FY22, the company clocked sales of over INR10,000 crores and is currently developing close to 100 projects spanning over 150 million square feet.

During the pandemic, while the real estate sector shrunk in the face of poor demand, he forged ahead, launching one of Asia-Pacific’s largest hospitality projects in partnership with Marriott International in FY22. Irfan cares immensely about sustainability and has led the company into pioneering several green practices across its projects. 

Irfan matches his fearlessness with principles that create long-term value for its employees, vendors and customers.