M.R. Jaishankar on Bengaluru: Infrastructure, Water and the Software Economy, Read by a Buyer

M.R. Jaishankar founded Brigade in 1986 and, as of 2026, is its Chairman. Brigade marks 40 years in business on 10 October 2026, and few people have watched Bengaluru's property market for as long. Unlike many developer chairmen, he does not do much of his talking on earnings calls. In Brigade's Q3 and Q4 FY26 calls he is listed as present, but the answers come from Managing Director Pavitra Shankar, Joint MD Nirupa Shankar and the executive team.

His views appear mainly in a column he writes for Brigade's house journal, reproduced on the company website as the 'Founder's Message'. That makes this article different from the others in this series. We rely on a small number of signed columns, each clearly dated, and we label older views as such. We then set those views alongside what Brigade's management has said on its 2026 calls, and translate the result into buyer decisions.

August 2026: AI, the software sector and Bengaluru's water

In his most recent column, dated August 2026, Jaishankar describes AI adoption as another major disruption across academia, business, government and daily life. He says no one can predict its negative impact but that the benefits are large. He then hopes the Indian software services industry will adapt quickly and continue its success of the last quarter century, adding that real estate's fortune "is also tied to the continued growth of the software sector."

The same column flags a drought risk in Karnataka, with the monsoon deficient by 20–60% in several parts of the country, and expresses hope that water levels at the KRS reservoir recover enough to avoid a drinking-water crisis in Bengaluru and a water-sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu. It also notes the volatility and higher cost of living caused by the West Asia conflict, and lists recent launches including Brigade Belvedere in Bengaluru and a large mixed-use project planned for Bengaluru East.

July 2023: infrastructure, funding and the Hyderabad warning

This is a three-year-old view and should be read as such. In his July 2023 column, written soon after a change of government in Karnataka, Jaishankar welcomed the new administration's 'Brand Bengaluru' focus, saying the city's image had suffered from severe traffic congestion and insufficient infrastructure planning and implementation. He argued that since Bengaluru contributes more than half of the state's tax revenue, it should receive a similar share of the state's expenditure on infrastructure.

He also warned that Hyderabad, with what he called superior infrastructure, was catching up with Bengaluru and could overtake it as an investment destination if the state remained complacent. In the same column he wrote that obtaining civic approvals was becoming more challenging than ever.

We found no 2025–26 column or interview in which he updates that infrastructure assessment, so we do not present it as his current position.

July 2022: costs, prices and interest rates

An even older column, from July 2022, is worth recalling because 2026 has brought a similar cost shock. At the time Jaishankar wrote that construction steel prices had risen 80–100% since February 2022, that this was bound to push selling prices up by at least 10% in southern Indian markets, and that rising inflation would harden home-loan rates. Brigade's 2026 management has made comparable, if milder, points about input costs after the West Asia conflict.

How his concerns show up in Brigade's 2026 operating commentary

Approvals. On the Q3 FY26 call (2 February 2026), Executive Director Pradyumna Krishna Kumar said some Bengaluru projects had been delayed three to four months by the administrative changes in the city, and that the move from BBMP to the Greater Bengaluru Authority had not accelerated approvals but had brought back stability. By the Q4 FY26 call (7 May 2026) he said the primary approval issues were behind the company. FY26 launches came in at 8.3 million sq ft against a 12 million sq ft plan, which Pavitra Shankar attributed mainly to approval delays.

Infrastructure as a price driver. Explaining why Brigade Lumina on Tumkur Road was more than 85% sold at launch in March 2026, Pavitra Shankar cited historic undersupply in the micro-market and metro connectivity, and said it sold at a higher rate than expected.

Hyderabad. Rather than only worrying about Hyderabad, Brigade has expanded there. On the May 2026 call management said Hyderabad contributed 15% of FY26 pre-sales, with Bengaluru at 65% and Chennai at 20%, and that Hyderabad accounted for about 30% of the roughly ₹15,000 crore of residential GDV it added in FY26.

The software economy. Brigade's office portfolio is heavily tied to global capability centres: management said in May 2026 that GCCs make up 58% of its leased office portfolio and traditional IT and ITES 26%.

What this means for buyers

• Treat connectivity as the main value lever, not a bonus. Brigade's own explanation of Lumina's sell-out points to metro access and undersupply. Within Bengaluru, homes near operational or well-advanced transit tend to command and hold value better than those that depend on announced projects.
• Price in the water question. Jaishankar's August 2026 concern about KRS and a possible drinking-water crisis is a reminder to ask any developer how a project is supplied: municipal connection status, borewell dependence, treated-water reuse and rainwater harvesting. These affect monthly costs and liveability.
• Diversify your exposure assumptions. If, as he says, real estate's fortunes are tied to software, then a buyer whose own income is also from tech carries correlated risk. Keep loan-to-value and EMI-to-income ratios conservative, especially on a stretch purchase.
• Expect approval-driven timing risk. Both his 2023 column and Brigade's 2026 calls point to approvals as a source of delay. Wait for RERA registration and use the registered completion date for your planning.
• Use Bengaluru versus Hyderabad as a real comparison. A Bengaluru developer chairman openly warned that Hyderabad was catching up, and his company now earns a meaningful share of sales there. If you are mobile across the two cities, compare like-for-like on price, rental yield and commute.

Brigade at 40: what the company is planning in Bengaluru

Jaishankar's August 2026 column notes that Brigade completes 40 years on 10 October 2026 and that it is time to plan for the next decade. The company's operating plans give some shape to that. On the May 2026 call, Pavitra Shankar said Brigade expected to launch about 4.5 million sq ft of residential projects in Bengaluru in FY27, out of an 11.6 million sq ft pipeline, with Bengaluru contributing 65% of FY26 pre-sales. She also mentioned upcoming launches in East Bengaluru in the Q3 timeframe, and said Brigade Belvedere, launched in the last week of March 2026, sold around 150 of its 760 units in that first stretch.

For buyers, the takeaway is continuity: a founder who worries openly about infrastructure and water is still committing most of the company's residential capital to Bengaluru.

Reading a founder's column correctly

A house-journal column is written for customers, employees and shareholders. It is candid about macro worries but naturally upbeat about the company. Its value to a buyer lies in which risks a long-tenured insider chooses to highlight, here infrastructure, approvals, water and dependence on one industry, rather than in any price prediction, which he does not make.

Property Point's view

Jaishankar's writing over 2022–2026 consistently treats Bengaluru as a city whose demand is strong but whose infrastructure, governance and resources lag. For a premium buyer, that argues for paying up for proven connectivity and reliable utilities, keeping leverage moderate, and treating announced infrastructure as upside rather than as the basis of a purchase. This is not investment advice.