ET Awards for Corporate Excellence 2025: DLF's Kushal Pal Singh gets 'Lifetime Achievement Award'
Kushal Pal Singh (96), the chairman emeritus of DLF, built much more than a property business of brick and mortar. Over decades, he helped imagine an entire city into being, reshaping Gurugram from scrubland on Delhi’s southern edge into a gleaming symbol of India’s burgeoning corporate ambition.
The jury chose Singh for the Lifetime Achievement Award, jointly with Cyrus Poonawalla, for his remarkable career that unlocked the vast potential of real estate in India.
The emergence of Gurugram, catalysed by Singh, triggered a new wave of urbanisation, the jury noted.
Under his leadership, DLF evolved from a modest Delhi-based developer into India’s largest real estate company, with a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 1.73 lakh crore as of December 15.
Singh stepped down as chairman in June 2020, leaving behind a legacy that extends far beyond balance sheets. Singh’s motivations were deeply personal.
“My inspiration has always been the desire to rise from a humble background through hard work, discipline, and excellence,” he told ET, on being bestowed the award.
A science graduate from Meerut College and a UK-trained aeronautical engineer, Singh began his career in the Indian Army’s elite cavalry regiment before joining DLF in 1960. From his student days, he recalls being driven to excel in academics, sports or professional life, with a constant aspiration to create lasting value for society. That resolve was tested early.
Founded in 1946 by father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh, DLF’s original business of developing colonies in Delhi collapsed after private urban development was prohibited post 1958. Singh describes this as the most challenging phase of his entrepreneurial life.
“With outdated laws, no access to institutional finance, and fragmented landholdings, the task of creating integrated townships seemed impossible,” he said.
At one stage, selling the company was a real consideration.
Instead, Singh identified opportunity in adversity. Turning to Gurugram, he began acquiring parcels in the late 1970s, personally negotiating with over 300 farmers across 3,500 acres.
“Through sustained advocacy with policymakers and by earning the trust of farmers, I helped open the sector to private enterprise, laying the foundation for modern urban development and what Gurgaon represents today,” he said. Farmers were offered cash and equity, along with schools, hospitals and roads that were later delivered.
The result was DLF City, among India’s first privately planned, funded and governed townships, built with wide roads, underground utilities, green belts and self-created infrastructure. Global corporations such as GE, American Express, IBM and Nestle followed in the 1990s, anchoring Gurugram’s rise as a corporate hub. Over time, Singh steered DLF through diversification and consolidation, using asset sales to pare debt that once exceeded `22,000 crore and restoring financial strength through its rental arm, DLF Cyber City Developers.
The jury chose Singh for the Lifetime Achievement Award, jointly with Cyrus Poonawalla, for his remarkable career that unlocked the vast potential of real estate in India.
The emergence of Gurugram, catalysed by Singh, triggered a new wave of urbanisation, the jury noted.
Under his leadership, DLF evolved from a modest Delhi-based developer into India’s largest real estate company, with a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 1.73 lakh crore as of December 15.
Singh stepped down as chairman in June 2020, leaving behind a legacy that extends far beyond balance sheets. Singh’s motivations were deeply personal.
“My inspiration has always been the desire to rise from a humble background through hard work, discipline, and excellence,” he told ET, on being bestowed the award.
A science graduate from Meerut College and a UK-trained aeronautical engineer, Singh began his career in the Indian Army’s elite cavalry regiment before joining DLF in 1960. From his student days, he recalls being driven to excel in academics, sports or professional life, with a constant aspiration to create lasting value for society. That resolve was tested early.
Founded in 1946 by father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh, DLF’s original business of developing colonies in Delhi collapsed after private urban development was prohibited post 1958. Singh describes this as the most challenging phase of his entrepreneurial life.
“With outdated laws, no access to institutional finance, and fragmented landholdings, the task of creating integrated townships seemed impossible,” he said.
At one stage, selling the company was a real consideration.
Instead, Singh identified opportunity in adversity. Turning to Gurugram, he began acquiring parcels in the late 1970s, personally negotiating with over 300 farmers across 3,500 acres.
“Through sustained advocacy with policymakers and by earning the trust of farmers, I helped open the sector to private enterprise, laying the foundation for modern urban development and what Gurgaon represents today,” he said. Farmers were offered cash and equity, along with schools, hospitals and roads that were later delivered.
The result was DLF City, among India’s first privately planned, funded and governed townships, built with wide roads, underground utilities, green belts and self-created infrastructure. Global corporations such as GE, American Express, IBM and Nestle followed in the 1990s, anchoring Gurugram’s rise as a corporate hub. Over time, Singh steered DLF through diversification and consolidation, using asset sales to pare debt that once exceeded `22,000 crore and restoring financial strength through its rental arm, DLF Cyber City Developers.
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