Mumbai's tallest tower to get its twin, developer MICL says new housing stock slowing sales

A rendering of Aaradhya Avaan, the twin towers being built by MICL

Mumbai-based listed developer Man Infraconstruction Ltd (MICL) has announced that it has launched the second tower of its Aaradhya Avaan development in southern Mumbai's Tardeo neighbourhood, which is expected to be the tallest tower in Mumbai when finished in 2028, at 306 metres.

MICL had launched the first phase of the slightly shorter first tower in 2024. The company's Managing Director Manan Shah added that most of the inventory in the first phase had been sold out, prompting the "preponement" of the second tower's launch.

While the company offered a starting price of Rs 69,000 per square foot in the first phase of the first tower, Shah added in an interaction with Moneycontrol that the company expects to command a 15 percent premium over the previous launch price in the new tower. In a release, MICL said that the new tower has a revenue potential of around Rs 3,000 crore.

Shah added that the prices are expected to increase as the project moves towards completion. Newly-finished inventory in the area trades for around Rs 1 lakh per square foot, according to market sources.

MICL, founded by prominent developer and current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Ghatkopar (East) Parag Shah, had earlier focused largely on suburban markets, such as Ghatkopar, Vile Parle, and Juhu, but has now made south Mumbai a key focus market, especially after Parag's son Manan took over day-to-day operations as Managing Director. This includes two other skyscraper projects at Marine Lines, and in Tardeo, close to the Aaradhya Avaan development.

Manan Shah added that the company is also rolling out flexible payment plans for the existing and new inventories. In the new tower, the company has launched a number of five bedroom units, listed for a starting price of around Rs 24 crore, while the company has also launched lower-priced three and four bedroom units in the previously-launched tower.

Asked about recent concerns regarding an inventory buildup in the luxury real estate market which may affect sales for projects like the Avaan, Shah said that a perceived slowdown in sales is due to a relative abundance of choice, rather than a market slowdown.

"A large amount of offerings have come up (in the luxury housing market). When there were five projects in the market, the customers used to visit the projects, at the very least. Now the customer has got 20 projects to choose from. It is taking more time to convert a customer to a buyer. Customers are still coming. Luckily, there is not much competition for us in the micro-market, and traction is still high," Shah said.

He also added that the "inventory buildup", as expressed by analysts and rating agencies, will be felt by developers "playing around" with the supply in the market, implying those who are pricing inventory that is beyond the reach of aspirational Indian homebuyers, outside of the Rs 7 crore to Rs 10 crore range. The need, Shah said, is to create inventory acceptable to "the majority of the masses".

While Shah acknowledged that recent volatility in equity markets may affect real estate sales, since a lot of stock market gains were being ploughed back to real estate over the past two years, he also added that equity markets operate on sentiments as well, with recent bearish trends in the market attributable to actions of the new administration in the United States under Donald Trump.

"A lot of consumers are salaried, and in the existing portfolio of Avaan, I have not seen too many stock market-linked customers purchasing homes, and our customers have generally been the business community. Any stock market gains businesspeople may have is their spare income. We are also providing buyers with flexible payment plans, so that such small curves in the market will not impact their buying power," Shah added.