Planning cities for 100 years, thinking boldly, creating bigger spaces: KP Singh of DLF

KP Singh of DLF Ltd, India’s largest listed real estate developer, believes India needs to overhaul its approach to urbanization. “Have big plans, but execute them rigorously. In my opinion, high-level urban planning requires a complete re-thinking,” he added.

“Plan the city for 100 years, think boldly and create greater remaining space,” said DLF honorary chairman Singh. Mintas his new book why not, Co-authored with Aparna Jain, Take the Stand.

The 95-year-old billionaire emphasized that there is no shortage of space, but there is a lack of vision. “India’s stance on all aspects of urban infrastructure should be based on future thinking. You have to think about the future, but how many years in advance, I say 100 years,” he said.

“This (big thinking) cannot be done by people who have grown up with scarcity, short-term thinking,” he warned. “The bigger vision has to come from the top.”

Citing the example of Lutyens’ roads in Delhi and Chandigarh, he said, “Even today you don’t see traffic chaos.” The reason, he said, is that when it comes to city planning, one needs to think long-term and the people The people who charted these paths were visionaries.

“India’s economic growth will exceed $5 trillion, leave it all to me. Entrepreneurs will drive India’s growth. But what will happen to this infrastructure?”

Singer warns that if mistakes are made in initial city planning, correcting course can be difficult.

“So at the beginning your plan has to be much bigger than you thought. Over time you can’t build narrow roads and you can’t demolish those houses. In urbanization, if the initial planning mistakes are made Mistakes are difficult to correct.”

“India’s economic growth will be over $5 trillion, leave it all to me. Entrepreneurs will drive India’s growth. But what will happen to this infrastructure?” he asked.

He pointed out that the McKinsey Global Institute stated in 2010 that India needs to build one American city, Chicago, every year to meet its urban development needs.

Read this article | Land, power and skills: The high-stakes battle to build the next Foxconn City

“But there hasn’t been a city since then. My gut feeling is that it probably won’t come either. Building a city is the hardest job – but when you think about new cities, it requires planning, how to acquire land, how to accumulate Land, difficulty in arranging finance, and how to have confidence in people… Take Lavasa for example… they couldn’t… Sahara City failed, every city you build is not necessarily a success story, it has to be done. Very good,” he said.

Tenant evictions and urban renewal

His advice to the dozens of property developers undertaking redevelopment projects is that people cannot be forced from their homes. “In my opinion, it’s the art of negotiation … your ability to convince them to leave amicably,” he said.

On creating wealth through land

Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh, KP Singh’s father-in-law, anticipated the post-independence influx of immigrants into the city and the subsequent surge in demand for housing. He knew that providing housing sites would be a huge business opportunity. It was this vision that led to the establishment of the Delhi Land and Finance Corporation (DLF) in 1946.

From that point on, “Whoever works with DLF – first the farmers, then the owners and even the government because you fund them through government external charges – anyone who works with you – you have to make sure that they also have to Profit from you,” Singh said.

“Whoever buys a property from us, there is massive appreciation – and this is due to one factor – the shortage of properties in the market. In Delhi, $The price of land after independence was US$4 per square yard. In Gurgaon, first sales started at $80 yards to a yard,” he said.

About Prime Minister Modi, Elon Musk and Jack Welch

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said: “I think Mr. Modi has led the government very well despite the huge pressure on state federalism.”

Elon Musk “is a genius,” he added.

Referring to his association with Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) who died in 2020, Singer said the association “produced significant benefits for the country, And I just accidentally got involved.”

KP Singh played an important role in India’s first inter-state gas pipeline project – the HBJ Gas Pipeline. He also provides consulting services to GE’s other businesses including power generation, aviation, locomotives, defense, aerospace, medical equipment and consumer durables. He is also a member of GE’s International Advisory Board and a national consultant. In a way, he was instrumental in bringing General Electric to India.

About KP Singh Foundation

In 2020, Singh established the KP Singh Charitable Foundation to support the country’s socially disadvantaged groups.

“Earlier, I established the DLF Foundation and then I felt that I should do more. The aim is to provide scholarships to talented children, preferably from disadvantaged groups in society, to identify talents and then help them achieve Success,” he said.

“We hope that over time this will be a large initiative, similar to the Rhodes Scholarship,” he said.

“We are also evaluating our work on women’s empowerment. The direction is to do a few things, but do it well, small and big, big and strong. We are guided by the principle of biting off as much as we can chew.” he added.

ALSO READ | Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur Model: A blueprint for urban governance in India

He said a “substantial” amount of money had been committed to the foundation but gave no details.

Advising companies seeking an initial public offering

He believes that launching an IPO (initial public offering) is a “good thing” and more real estate companies will want to conduct an IPO “because after RERA, it becomes cleaner, but it will definitely take time for more companies to join” and is looking forward to conducting an IPO for the first time Public offering. “