Jayant Inamdar’s Story Of Success
Post-COVID Pune property market has better scenario
Jayant Inamdar is a structural engineer, precising the same for the last 40 years. He is one of the few highly successful structural engineering consultants in India, with multiple pan-India projects. His clientele includes BASF, Volkswagen, Hafeez Contractor, and other organizations, including the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), for its iconic office space at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).
Having come from an economically weak background in a village near Pune, Inamdar has proved that it doesn’t matter what your background is; if your aim is high, you can achieve wonderful things in life. His entry into the real estate sector was a fine blend of choice and chance. He had no money back in the late 1970s, to start a construction business. The consultancy work in structural engineering was at a nascent stage – only a handful of structural engineers practised the profession those days in the entire country. One of his professors at the College of Engineering Pune was practical enough to advise him about professional practice in structural engineering as a career choice.
Inamdar worked for six years as a full-time structural engineer in companies like Tata Consulting Projects, Hadkar Prabhu & Associates in Mumbai and Er. CE Godse in Pune. He began his practice in 1983. There was no looking back since then. No wonder, he calls himself a doctor of bones of the building!
His key to success is hard work and continuous learning. He opines that if you do your best work consistently for the initial four-five years, you may or may not get any money, but eventually success will come behind you. Even at the age of 70, he’s working from 7.30 in the morning to 11.30 at night every day! Even though his office is well-staffed, he’s committed to his official work and various social impact activities, which keep him busy. He thinks that nobody can say they know everything. “Even today, I keep learning new things from my field. A day without learning is a day wasted.”
Inamdar believed that the iconic office building of MMRDA in Mumbai was the turning point in his career. The challenge was to design something unique with office space of just 100 x 70 meter’s without columns.
Success is never a one-night story. He believes failure is the first step to any success. He recalls one of the projects where he was blamed for the underground water tank failure having the capacity to hold 28 Crore liters of water. Although, later, it was proved that it wasn’t the mistake of a structural engineer but of the execution team. Since then, he’s developed a practice to study almost every minute detail to avoid any probable failures and advise the same to clients.
The most important change brought by MahaRERA, as per Inamdar, is that “every builder is conscious of what to commit to the buyers. Post-COVID, the Pune property market has a better scenario with better booking rates and a positive atmosphere. If you’re considering property as an investment, think about its market price five years down the line and if you’re looking for your use, consider the points like location advantage, security of everyone around the space and basic amenities like water, electricity, road and ventilation.” Having said that, he also thinks that the most important thing in real estate from the buyers’ point of view is the legality of the land and the historic performance of the builder or developer.
Quality, Safety and Timely completion – these three things will be the major change according to Inamdar in the future of real estate.
He is delighted and grateful for his career journey and has no regrets. He always advises his developer clients to reduce the wastage of materials because, in addition to the cost to the developers, it is a waste of national resources. “If Mera Bharat Mahan and Aatmanirbharta have to work hand-in-hand, we shouldn’t tolerate any wastage beyond the least possible,” says Inamdar.
His advice to young entrepreneurs is, “Work hard. Don’t look at the monetary results for the initial four to five years. Keep yourself updated about the latest concept in your field, not only within India but worldwide.”
