Senior living may still be miniscule in India, but it is growing exponentially in the country by all figures—a recent Colliers study found the value to go up from around 3 billion dollars right now to as much as 12 billion dollars by the end of this decade.
This has spurred both realty majors as well as investors to eye the sector for its prospects. Some of the biggest names in the field include the likes of Tata, Ashiana, Max etc.
Ashiana joint MD Ankur Gupta said the company was aiming for nearly 1,000 units sale per year, with demand on the up and up. More interestingly, second tier cities are showing robust demand in senior living, pointing to both socio-economic changes as well as attitudinal changes to senior living.
Tier 2 towns becoming some of the biggest markets for senior living include Coimbatore, Pune, Jaipur and initial favourites Bhiwadi (in Rajasthan though close to Delhi NCR) and Dehradun.
According to the Colliers report, 60 per cent of the demand for senior living comes from secondary cities Ahmedabad, Kochi and Surat.
"Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore is booming probably because of its location, as it is on the border with Kerala," said Gupta, adding, "It is also popular because of its accessibility to medical facilities as well as its climate."
Gupta said acceptability of senior living was increasing in the North which will grow into a bigger market than south as it is presently, purely because of the numbers. Ashiana which has 20 per cent of its total inventory in the senior living basket now plans to increase this in the coming years, sensing the opportunity. This year, the company is set to launch four new projects, of which a premium 'sophisticated' project in Chennai's ECR will be a senior living, while the other three, two in Jaipur and one in Gurugram, will be in the regular housing development category.
"Senior living is picking up as people get richer and social taboos melt down," said Gupta. "Indians are living longer, and they want to lead a qualitative life for themselves, not just for their kids and families."
