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Snehal Mantri |
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Luxury apartments designed by Mantri
engage twenty-first century concepts,
spacious floor plans, and ecologically
compatible technologies to foster physical,
mental, and spiritual well being.
The Mantri Altius ranks amongst the
most expensive properties in Bangalore,
and it even won an award from CRISIL
last year. The ground floor lounge in this
prestigious building is easily comparable to
the lobby of a 7 star hotel, complete with a
receptionist and vending machines.
With a number of high-end residential
projects, as well as malls and hotels
coming up in many different cities, Mantri
is all set to make a seminal contribution to
India’s real estate scene. Sushil Mantri and
his wife Snehal are the main driving force
behind this dedicated organization that
likes to take pride in its ability to always
complete its projects on time.
We caught up with Mrs. Mantri recently
to find out how in such a short time the
Mantris have been able to make such a big
impact. |
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| Demand will always be there. The price of crude
oil and inflation is making people postpone their
real estate choices. However, the ultra luxury
segment will not go down because demand is
rising whereas supply is limited. |
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| This is not a problem specific only to Bangalore;
developmental works are taking their toll
on the environment everywhere in India. But
Bangalore has two distinct advantages - this city enjoys fantastic weather and it is home to
a very cosmopolitan crowd. So, Bangalore will
expand in a much better way than other cities. |
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Mantri has done a lot of things differently as
compared to other developers. In 2002 we
became the first developer to put swimming
pools in penthouses.
The Mantri Altius has won many awards. It
was adjudged the Best Residential Property in
India by a distinguished panel of experts from
CRISIL. We incorporate in our buildings many
value added services to ensure that a Mantri
flat feels like a real home and not a mere
house. We have the Mantri Premier Program,
which is like a rewards program. Every year
we offer free health check ups to the residents in our buildings. We also have an elderly
club. Shortly, we’ll be incorporating
Telemedicine in our new complex the
Mantri Espana. |
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| We’re really proud of the Espana. This is
going to be a ultra high-end property. The
basic idea in Espana is somewhat similar
to that in Altius in the sense that each
floor will have only one flat. The cost per
flat is between 2 and 10 crores. |
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| Our research shows that the people who
own flats in our buildings, are really
stressed for time. They are so busy with
work that they are forced to neglect
their health. That is why we decided to
incorporate telemedicine exclusively for
Mantri residents by tying up with Apollo
hospitals. If a resident has a health
problem, instead of going to a hospital
or clinic they can get examined on the
Mantri property. This will be done via
phone, Internet, video conferencing, etc.
In addition, a doctor will come every day
for an hour to see the ailment. In case of
emergencies an ambulance will arrive
immediately. Apollo Hospital is opening
near Mantri Espana so the time for the
ambulance to arrive and return will be
very fast. |
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| My family and I shifted from Pune to
Bangalore in 1999. In Pune, we used to
be stockbrokers, but in Bangalore we
decided to invest in real estate and our
first property came up on Bannerghata
Rd. At that time we faced many problems
with existing builders. Also, it was quite a
struggle to convince |
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| people that living in
a flat could be a much better option than
living in an independent house. But we
were able to convince buyers by selling
900 sq ft, 2 bedroom flats for about 12
lakhs. |
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| I agree that the real estate sector is
proving to be a laggard when it comes to delivering property on time. There
are many builders who tend to think that
delivering 6 months late is still on time.
But that is not the case with us. We always
manage to deliver flats to our buyers on
time. I feel proud to say that none of our
projects have ever been delayed. |
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| We’re expanding from Bangalore to
Chennai, Hyerderabad and Pune. We
have already ventured into schools, like
the Indus international. We also plan
to enter the malls and the hospitality sector. Currently we are in the process
of developing a mall that will be the
largest in Bangalore. In the near future,
we will also make a foray into SEZs and
townships. |
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| We are quite excited about our hotel
projects that are in the process of
coming up. By 2010 we’ll have a number
of 3, 4, and 5 star hotels in Bangalore
and Hyderabad. We’re also tying up with
other leading hotel brands. |
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| I have to confess that I am a workaholic
and so is my husband. But we do manage
to go on vacations with our children.
We’ve been to Kenya, Australia, New
Zealand, Egypt, South Africa, and few
other countries. India also has many
places to explore, but there are some
problems here that you don’t see in
other countries. Infrastructure is bad,
cleanliness is not there, and most cities
and towns are too crowded. |
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| I recently went to Egypt with my family
and we were awed by the architecture and
history of the Pyramids. It is fascinating
that they could build something so grand
more than 3000 years ago. |
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| There is no one item that I’ve splurged
on. My passion nowadays is traveling. I
love to go out and explore the world. City
life can be very stressful so people need
to find new venues for relaxation such as
meditation or traveling. |
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| We like to see and do different things
when we travel. We’ve indulged in all
kinds of fantastic experiences - bungee
jumping, skydiving, hot air balloon rides,
and scuba diving, which I really enjoyed. |
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| My hobbies are swimming and listening
to music. I love old songs from Mukesh,
but unfortunately I can’t sing. |
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| Frankly speaking we are open-minded
and we don’t intend to push our kids.
We will support them in whatever they
want to do. My daughter Priyanka might
be joining in retail management and if
she enjoys the work she’ll take things
forward. |
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