Ask any Gurgaon developer who is buying its most expensive homes and the answer increasingly includes the Indian diaspora. DLF has been the most explicit about this, and its Joint Managing Director and Chief Business Officer Aakash Ohri has repeatedly put numbers on it.

This piece sets out what Ohri has said, dated and sourced, then cross-checks it against what two other large listed developers, Godrej Properties and Lodha, said in 2026 about how events in West Asia affected their sales. We close with a practical checklist for NRI buyers, kept separate from the developers' views.

What Aakash Ohri has said about NRI demand

In January 2025, after The Dahlias' launch sales, Ohri attributed demand to ultra-HNIs across India and to non-resident Indians, according to PTI reports carried by Outlook Business.

In reporting on DLF's April–December 2025 performance, Ohri was quoted as saying that overseas buyers accounted for about 5% of DLF's sales three years earlier and that their share had risen to around 30% in the then-current financial year (FY26). The same reports said NRIs bought properties worth about ₹5,247 crore in those nine months, roughly 32% of DLF's ₹16,176 crore of bookings. For comparison, the reports put NRI purchases at about ₹3,500 crore (roughly 16%) of FY25 bookings and about 23% of FY24 bookings.

As of August 2026, on DLF's Q1 FY27 earnings call as reported by Business Today, management said 25–30% of buyers at The Dahlias were from outside the National Capital Region, and that NRI participation was growing.

Why the share moves around

The year-to-year swings in DLF's NRI share (23%, then about 16%, then about 30%) are a reminder that the percentage depends on what DLF launched in a given year. A year dominated by a single ultra-luxury launch with strong diaspora interest will show a different mix from a year with more mid-premium supply. Buyers should read the trend as ‘diaspora demand for top-end Gurgaon is now material’, not as a fixed share that will hold every year.

It is also a company-specific figure. DLF has actively courted diaspora buyers for years, so its NRI share should not be assumed for the Gurgaon market as a whole or for other developers.

The cross-check: what Godrej and Lodha said in 2026

Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairperson of Godrej Properties, told PTI in May 2026 that the company saw a small drop in sales at the end of March 2026 linked to the West Asia conflict, that conditions had normalised from April, and that the company remained watchful about macro shocks.

Lodha took a more cautious step. According to summaries of its Q1 FY27 earnings call in late July 2026, the company deliberately postponed most residential launches in the April–June quarter because of the Middle East conflict, and pre-sales grew only about 4% year on year to roughly ₹4,630 crore. One summary reported that NRIs make up only about 4–5% of Lodha's sales, which suggests the postponement was about overall sentiment rather than diaspora exposure alone.

DLF, by contrast, has a much higher reported NRI share. That is not a judgement on any developer; it simply means DLF's top-end inventory is more sensitive to how the Gulf and other diaspora markets feel in a given quarter.

What this means for buyers

  • Diaspora demand supports prices at the top, but it is also more sentiment-driven. Geopolitical events, currency moves and overseas job markets can change the pace of NRI buying within weeks, as the 2026 commentary from Godrej and Lodha shows.
  • If you are a resident buyer, a project with a high NRI share may see more investor-led resale listings later. Ask the developer, where it will say, roughly what share of a tower has been sold to end-users versus investors.
  • If you are an NRI buyer, the strong demand from your peers is not a reason to skip diligence you would do at home. Distance makes post-purchase problems harder to fix.

An NRI buyer's checklist for Gurgaon

  • Eligibility: under FEMA rules, NRIs and OCIs can generally buy residential and commercial property in India, but not agricultural land, plantation property or farmhouses. Confirm the land use of any ‘villa’ or ‘farm’ product.
  • Payment channels: pay from NRE/NRO/FCNR accounts or through normal banking channels; keep every receipt, as these matter for repatriation later.
  • RERA: check the project's Haryana RERA registration, approved plans, and the latest quarterly progress reports yourself; do not rely only on a brochure.
  • Power of attorney: if someone will act for you in India, keep the PoA specific to the transaction and executed properly abroad (consulate attestation or apostille, as applicable), then adjudicated in India.
  • Tax on exit: when an NRI sells Indian property, the buyer must deduct tax at source at the applicable rate; plan for this and for any lower-deduction certificate well before a sale.
  • Possession and management: decide in advance who will take possession, handle snagging, and manage leasing or upkeep if you will not live there.

Currency, holding period and the real return

Many NRI buyers think about Indian property in their home currency, whether dirhams, dollars or pounds. That is sensible, but it means the outcome depends on two things at once: what happens to the property's rupee value and what happens to the rupee against your currency over your holding period. A rupee that weakens over the years can erode gains measured abroad, and a rupee that holds steady can enhance them. Neither developer commentary nor any adviser can forecast this reliably.

The practical response is to buy on a long horizon, keep borrowing in rupees modest if your income is in another currency, and be realistic about the costs of ownership from abroad: maintenance, property management, letting fees if you rent it out, and the time and expense of eventually selling and repatriating funds. A luxury apartment that suits your family's future plans in India usually makes more sense than one bought purely on a return assumption.

It is also worth deciding at the outset whether the home is for your own use, for a family member, or for letting. Each choice changes which project and unit type make sense; for example, rental demand in Gurgaon tends to follow office clusters and connectivity, while an eventual own-use home may prioritise schools, healthcare and green space.

Brand matters more from a distance

One reason diaspora buyers concentrate on a handful of names is simple: when you cannot visit a site every month, a long delivery record and a listed company's disclosure obligations reduce uncertainty. Ohri's remarks in August 2026, reported by Business Today, that DLF wanted full legal clarity before opening bookings for its delayed Goa project, putting customer confidence ahead of launch timing, point to the same priority from the developer's side.

Brand is not a guarantee, though. Even large developers defer launches, and timelines can move. Treat brand as one input among several, alongside RERA records and an independent review of the agreement.

Property Point's view

DLF's leadership has made a credible, documented case that NRIs are now a large part of the top-end Gurgaon market. Our reading is that this is a durable shift in who buys luxury homes in the city, but that the share of NRI buying will rise and fall with events abroad. For NRI clients we focus on paperwork, payment trails, and a realistic plan for possession and exit, because those are what protect value over a long holding period.

This article is for information only and is not investment, tax or legal advice; please consult qualified professionals for your situation.