subject: Sushil Ansal Developer Of Tier I And Tier Ii Towns [print this page] Sushil Ansal was among the earliest to see the potential of smaller cities the so-called Tier I and Tier II towns and the hunger for well-planned housing with good amenities and interiors. Even while waiting for the rules to change and
allow him to build whole townships, he took Ansal API, as the flagship company was now known, to a variety of second-tier cities. (API was originally Ansal Properties and Industries Ltd. In 2004, it was renamed Ansal Properties and
Infrastructure). By 2005 Ansal API was busy at construction sites in fifteen cities over five states.
As early as 1993, the Ansals had a pan-Indian presence. We also went to Bangalore (1992) and Cochin (1995) Says Sushil Ansal, and to Agra (1985), Allahabad (1989) and Ghaziabad. In 1993, Sushil Ansal had entered the Mumbai market with a group housing project in Borivali East. The most ambitious undertaking of the time was in Lucknow. The Ashiana sub-city 400 acres on the Kanpur Road, very close to the
airport in Amausi that Sushil Ansals father had helped construct in the aftermath of the war of 1962 was being developed by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). Somehow the LDA kept running into problems, says Sushil Ansal, and eventually they sold the undeveloped land to us. Ashiana came up in the early 1990s, symbolizing our expansion period.
The experience of developing Palam Vihar and Sushant Lok made it clear to Sushil Ansal that genuine township development, with its mix of residential and commercial space, social and leisure infrastructure, was not only profitable, it was also professionally satisfying. It provided a model that finally unchained the developer from tardy municipal and civic agencies that might or might not deliver on their obligations.
Even then, results were slow to come. The Ansals went to Rajasthan in 1995 and urged the government to change policy. We told them of the Haryana model, Sushil Ansal says, and how it had the smallest percentage of unauthorized colonies. It took eight years to convince the government to change its policies. It was only in 2003 that the agreement to develop Sushant City in Jaipur was signed. Today, it has a 400-acre spread. Pranav Ansal was assigned the responsibility for growth and expansion in Rajasthan. This encouraged Pranav and Sushil Ansal to spread to other small cities like Jodhpur, Ajmer, Bhilwara and Bikaner. In Jodhpur, they signed an agreement with Gaj Singh, the former Maharaja and developed the first shopping-cum-multiplex complex. Another heritage property of Maharaja Gaj Singh is Rai Ka Bagh Palace.
Sushil Ansal and his son-in-law, Vipin Luthra, are partnering with Gaj Singh in developing a heritage hotel. Today Ansal API is the largest private developer in
Rajasthan. While professionalizing his company and giving it an all-India identity, Sushil Ansal planned to go public in the November 1992. The first public issue, for Ansal Properties, was successful and was oversubscribed by six times. After three years, Sushil Ansal and his brothers decided to take two other companies, Ansal Buildwell and Ansal Housing, public.
