Shahid Balwa


Shahid Usman Balwa is an Indian businessman. He is the co-founder of Mumbai based DB Realty, one of the largest real estate development firms and land owners in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. His other ventures include DB Hospitality, the hotel arm of the DB Group of companies.

Early and personal life

Balwa was born in January 1974 to hotelier Usman Ebrahim Balwa and Sakina Balwa in Mumbai. He is one of the two children of his parents and has a elder brother, Salim. Balwa comes from the Chilya Sunni Muslim community and his forefathers hailed from Pirojpura, Gujarat. He attended college till Year 11 after which he dropped out to join the family's hotel business. His father, Usman, started Balwa's restaurant at Marine Lines and Balwa's Hotel at Mumbai Central.

Career

In 2006, he partnered with fellow developer Vinod Goenka to form DB Realty. In a few years, the construction company claimed to have 21,000,000 square feet of saleable area in ongoing projects and another 40,000,000 square feet in upcoming projects. In 2010, the company further expanded by bagging the redevelopment rights of an area in Ackruti City and Bandra East.
In 2017, Neelkamal Realtors Tower, subsidiary company of DB Realty, signed an agreement with Indo Global Soft Solutions and Technologies, a part of Radius Group, to construct a housing project in Mumbai. In 2018, it was reported that DB Realty was in talks with the real-estate developer Rustomjee Group regarding a Development Management Agreement. According to the agreement, DB Realty will construct a 7-acre project, DB Crown, in Prabhadevi locality in Mumbai.
In June 2019, DB Realty entered into an agreement with RMZ Corp to turn the iconic film studio, Kamal Amrohi Studio, into an office park in Mumbai.

Awards and recognition

Shahid Balwa has been listed by Forbes as the 66th richest person in India. He had a net worth of US$1.06 billion. He was ranked by Forbes as India's 50th richest man in 2010.

Philanthropy/ CSR

His charitable activities are in the field of health and education. They include the Balwas High School and Charitable Medical Institution in Pirojpura, Gujarat, which he started in 2008 and duly subsidizes.