Vishranthi Homes Pvt Ltd (VHPL) is in the business of providing homes that are havens of ease and comfort. Rajkumar Reddy, MD of the company says he got into this business ‘by accident’ – he was originally interested in the packaging industry, wanting to offer a first-of-its-kind one-stop solution in India, but was deterred by the import restrictions prevailing in the eighties. He turned to the construction business at the behest of his father, Ramjee Reddy, who had over three decades of experience as a contractor in the Military Engineering Services. Vishranthi Homes, set up in 1987, was a product of Ramjee Reddy’s vision, and Rajkumar followed his lead.
Right from the start Rajkumar was clear that he wanted to be different. He opted for the niche, high-end residential market in Chennai. And today, satisfied customers say VHPL is the city’s best.
Having decided to enter the construction business, Rajkumar Reddy dived into the subject, studying books and works of famous architects down the ages all over the world. The projects came slowly to start with – only one a year for a while, then slowly more, till 1996, when he got his big break. Vishranthi completed a landmark project in the posh Boat Club area of Chennai, and suddenly, its name was doing the rounds as a provider of premium homes.
Designed by a Canadian architect, the residential complex, named Sree Ram, was done in the Spanish style and has just one apartment per floor. The Boat Club area saw four more Vishranthi projects in the years that followed. Poes Garden, another upmarket area, is the location of five projects, including two which are having the finishing touches added to them – HM Elegance and Swaroop Heritage. VHPL has completed some 65 residential projects to date.
What’s special about the Vishranthi homes? For one thing, they’re almost all over 2000 sq ft, going up to 5000 sq ft. For another, the client is given a lot of freedom to customise. Obviously, there are constraints such as location of bathrooms and kitchens, and the elevation is also fixed, but otherwise, customers can chop and change to suit their own needs. There’s nothing stereo-typed about a Vishranthi home.
Rajkumar Reddy says at Vishranthi they’ve always fostered brave new ideas. Architects are encouraged to think out of the box, and come up with innovative and customer-friendly designs. The firm works with architects from abroad as well as from various places in India. The effort is to rope in the best talent.
Time was when VHPL took care of a wide range of construction-related activities in-house, but not any more. In the midst of satisfaction at successfully completed and well-received projects, there runs a strong element of disillusionment. Rajkumar is totally disappointed with the quality of civil engineers which the mushrooming colleges in India churn out year after year. The company conducts regular aptitude tests for its staff, and finds that even basic knowledge is missing. There’s also a lot lacking as far as attitude goes, he says.
Training is required for all levels, plumbers, electricians and tile-layers included. But the flip side is, once training is provided, the employees leave for greener pastures, as VHPL found out to its cost. When it was boom time in the real estate business, each of its contingent of trained workers, many of whom had been happy employees of the company for a decade or more, aspired to be a contractor in his own right, and often left with complete disregard to factors like the mandatory notice period. “We do well when the market is low”, quips Rajkumar.
Personnel is one of the areas where he would like to see improvement. He wants to see the entry of a new breed of committed engineers who are motivated by the sheer importance of housing and the impact it has on people’s lives to go that extra mile, take that extra bit of care to ensure that they deliver more than they commit. In fact, that’s the credo of Vishranthi Homes Pvt Ltd: ‘We deliver more than we commit.’
The other area where Rajkumar Reddy sees vast scope for betterment is in the sphere of planning. In India, this is not given anywhere near the importance it deserves, he feels. Yes, Master Plans are being formulated. But they should be done by experts in the field, not just by bureaucrats assisted by a few architects, he says. It is because of bad planning or the lack of it that there is poor quality infrastructure even in areas billed as world-standard business localities, he points out. Flyovers, eight-lane roads, ample water supply and efficient drainage systems are as important as buildings with the latest facilities.
Vishranthi focuses on residential buildings – its modus operandi is to identify premium plots and design buildings that are specifically suited to the site. They also place a lot of emphasis on the green concept. Harmony of people, processes and practices is their anthem. Care is taken to see that a lot of green meets the eye. At HM Elegance there’s a two-tiered garden, and a water body which flows from a point on the roof down the entire height of the building. The apartments on the top floor have terrace gardens. Greenery and water are also important elements at Swaroop’s Heritage.
No trees are felled during construction, even if it means putting up buildings in areas with lot of vegetation. In one project, where 300 apartments had to be constructed on a site where coconut and teak trees grew, the challenge was met by transplanting all the trees to one corner of the plot to create an instant wooded picnic spot!
The aim of VHPL is to raise the bar of construction with every project, says Rajkumar. The upmarket apartments draw like-minded customers, and the company strives to provide a complete solution. Security, landscape maintenance, piped gas and gymnasiums are among the facilities which come packaged with the buildings.
We’re very comfortable with the boutique type of apartments, says Rajkumar. But that’s not all that the company does. It has executed a gated community of 600 villas, and several mega IT projects totalling 10 lakh sq ft too.
There’s huge scope for affordable homes in South India, particularly Chennai, and the key is in the pricing, says Rajkumar. Ironically, there doesn’t seem to be any regard either among the sellers or the buyers themselves, about basic minimum requirements. People are designing homes which measure 450 sq ft in total, inclusive of the common area, and these are selling well too, he says. But affordability comes with a price – mainly compromises on quality.
Vishranthi Homes is big on quality. It was the first Chennai-based construction company in the private sector to get the ISO 9000:2000 certification – in 2001. Stringent quality and safety standards are maintained. The company has come out with a manual covering every activity throughout the construction process, from the laying of the foundation to the handing over of the home. There are checklists which quality supervisors are expected to maintain. When there’s a non-conformity report, the flaw has to be set right within a given period. Outsourcing has ensured that the company is able to get the best talent available for each aspect of construction, but even so, every stage is checked by the Vishranthi team and personally certified by Rajkumar Reddy before the next stage is begun.
“We’ve had a good run”, says the Managing Director. “And I think we have a bright future ahead”. Ask him if he has a dream project, and Rajkumar Reddy replies, “I’d like to do one gated community with all facilities, something where I’ve studied the flaws and shortcomings in other such projects and set them right, a project which I can showcase and tell the world this is how it’s got to be done”.
Perfection is what he strives for. Though his projects have been acclaimed by customers and fellow builders alike, he always feels he could have done better.