PANJIM: An architect by profession, Gaurang Suctancar has the traits of an accomplished entrepreneur. He ventured into business with a marketing company that sharpened his entrepreneurial skill. He successfully headed a division right from its set up and development that instilled in him the confidence to independently start his own venture and Risara Properties was born.
HERALD: Why did you rename your company, especially when you were so well known as Prudential Group?
GAURANG Suctancar: ‘Prudential’ is a brand known for insurance and branding. Since we did not want to be associated with a finance company, we decided to rebrand our company name. It also helped us create a separate brand from Prudential Developers, my other partnership that was dissolved in the year 2013. We did not want to confuse people with 2 separate firms hence the dissolution.
HERALD: Is there anything you are doing differently under the new branding?
GS: With the rebranding to Risara Properties our focus today lies on operational excellence. Our product is not only a resultant output that is aesthetically designed and quality conscious, but we have defined our minimal standards that make our brand. We have defined our core values that impart a character to our organization and its leadership, such that a work culture evolves to consistently deliver high-quality products and services to customers.
A Risara product today, is only a resultant benchmark of consciously evolving quality standards and following the best practices in construction industry.
HERALD: What is the USP of your projects?
GS: We always put our clients first. I believe that people do not know what they actually want while buying a home. They just buy what is available. We therefore, want to show them what they are missing. We offer value for money through innovation and quality. We always strive to being the first in amenity or facilities compared to other developers.
Our current project Risara Luxury has introduced innovation in respect to security features like access control at the lobby level, biometric entry for individual residences, panic button and much more. We have also provided occupancy sensors in common areas like the lobbies, hallways, a concept which saves electricity consumption and has not been introduced by any builder till date.
We also look into very small details which clients normally do not pay heed to, but realize only after they buy with us. In fact, many of our clients come to us, letting us know that their best investment was buying a home with Risara Properties.
HERALD: Has there been any change in the way business is conducted from the time you started?
GS: Yes, we always keep on learning. Continual improvement and service are two of our core values.
HERALD: How has the market been in the last 2-3 years?
GS: There has been a slowdown. However, we are very optimistic of the future. The ban on sand etc, have impacted our construction costs. We are upbeat that this government will ensure commencement of mining at the earliest.
HERALD: What are the problems plaguing the industry?
GS: High incidental cost of land is a major setback today. Every time we talk to landowners or brokers they do not understand the implications of reduction in FAR/FSI on cost of land. Scarcity of trained labour is another problem. We are spending our time and effort to train manpower to achieve Risara quality and Risara values. Approvals also are burdensome and have to be simplified.
HERALD: What can the government do to improve the situation for the industry?
GS: To reduce cost of land the government can open up large parcels of land for development, increase FAR or plan for TDR in zones where the land incidences are high.
Single window clearance will ensure faster approvals which will further help reduce costs. Time frame should be specified for all approvals and there should be clarity in the bylaws. We feel law should be same for all. We have instances where illegal encroachments by village residents are allowed and no action is taken on them by the authorities.
