This interview was published in English daily “The Hitavada (Nagpur Edition)” on 28^th august 2009, in this interview the CM of the company Mr. Shekhar Jadhav is talking to Aasawari Shenolikar

With more than 70 layouts to his credit, Shekhar Jadhav, the man behind Grace Realities India Pvt Ltd is standing tall in the real estate market that is slowing seeing an upward swing again

He entered the real estate business by chance. This was in the year 2001. And eight years down the line, Shekhar Jadhav, the Managing Director of Grace Realities India Pvt. Ltd. Is known as one of the biggest players in the market in the real estate business. How big he is you can gauge when he tells you that the recession did make a dent in his business, but still his graph is showing an upward swing. “I give the credit to my core team who has been with me since the time I started dealing in plots. They are not my employees but my family.” He says, and when he tells you that his driver of yesteryears looks after his accounts in the office today, you gotta believe him.

Jadhav after completing his chemical engineering dabbled in the various professions including selling chemicals, and networking. “I changed a number of jobs and during these stints came to a conclusion that I don’t want to do a job. My belief was strengthened when I found the GM of the company that I was working for sacked an IITian for trivial reason. I knew then that I wanted to be the boss and not to be bossed around.”

Jadhav then tried his luck in the various ventures grabbing every opportunity that came his way to learn something new. And it was his chain networking business that set the base for his future venture. “I had a base of thousands of customers who were a part of my dealings. A friend of mine then was in to selling plots and he requested me to help him. I did, by then I had realized it’s time to settle down in a stable business. So in 2005, I and a couple of friends raised five lakhs by refinancing our cars and took a loan of Rs 5 lakhs and started Grace Realities India Pvt Ltd as promoters and developers”

His educational background and experience gleaned over so many years helped him survive in this cutthroat competitive business that was just taking root in Nagpur.

“The first thing that we did was sit down and ponder as to what can take us to the top. We concluded that the general impression that a promoter developer has in the market is ‘Arere yeh toh fraud hai.’ That’s because many people have suffered at their hands. We wanted to rectify that and so we listed the mistakes that they might have committed. Learning from their mistakes, we developed our strategy and gained the respect and faith of our customers” he states.

Today Grace Realities has 75 layouts to their credit with many more are in the pipeline. Ask him what else is he planning to dabble in he replies, “we will soon announce our new projects – two townships on wardha road.” After having studied the development taking place on the Wardha road, and the escalating cost of owning a house in the city. Jadhav saw it fit to construct affordable township.
“What do people look for when they construct a house – that it should be close to market, schools and colleges must be in the vicinity. Recreational facilities should also be available. Wardha road already has a number of good schools, engineering college, and we know that this is going to see a spurt of growth. It will be like a suburb of Nagpur. Looking into all this we know that the response to our township is going to be great.”

The USP of their township will be that it will not compromise on quality. “My customer base is ready, and nearly 33% of them are NRI’s. For me customer is the king and I take pride in telling you that each customer of mine is a satisfied lot.”

Jadhav has not put all his fingers in one pie. He is in to different businesses, one of them being organic farming and manufacturing snacks. “My aim is to reach all homes in Nagpur through some products or the other that has the stamp of ‘Grace’ on it. I feel that snacks – healthy snacks – is an emerging business. And because people are health conscious these days, it will catch on.” So in the coming years the bare necessities – shelter and food will be taken care by Grace Realities.

On why Nagpur is a hot town in terms of growth of real estate, Jadhav opines “The manpower here is cheap, the infrastructure solid. Only Mumbai can beat Nagpur, in my opinion, is the second most happening city in the state. But Nagpurians need to rise and their potential has to come out if they want to have a hand in making this city one of the top destinations in term of business in the country. Else the jobs that will be generated will go to outsiders”

This down-to-earth man is not bothered if people know his name or not. Citing the example of Dettol, he says “People know the product and its worth. They don’t know who the man behind the product is. I want people to know Grace Realities – the products that we give to our customers. If they don’t know me by name I have no problem. The company is greater that the creator.”
Jadhav also firmly believes that “If I fool others, I am fooling myself and this attitude will not help me reach where I want to – at the top”
At present by the Grace of God Grace Realities is one of the reputed names in the real estate circles, and Shekhar Jadhav the man behind it hopes to keep it the way

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