As corporates go gaga over BCCI?s Indian Premier League, Pradeep Jain, chairman of Parsvnath Developers has found a cause in promoting the game of chess. As vice-president of All India Chess Federation, Jain supported the game when most corporates don?t look beyond cricket. He takes pride in the fact that India has produced more than 10 grandmasters, since Parsvnath?s association with it. ?Chess grows with us and we grow with chess,? he states candidly. Well, that?s not the only way in which Jain begs to differ from his counterparts.

Parsvnath?s IPO which hit the capital markets in 2006 marked the first listing of a real-estate company in a long time. Moreover, Parsvnath Developers was the first real estate company to table its request for operating a mobile network in 22 circles in the country. (It is another story that its application was turned down and it has now filed a case with the Delhi High Court.) ?From day one, we have always set precedents. We want others to follow us,? he thumps.

Pradeep Jain, 43 had humble beginning. Hailing from the small town of Panipat, he branched away from his family business to become a real-estate broker in 1982. Today, Parsvnath is one of the leading real-estate developers with a pan-India presence and 209.75 million sq ft of developable area including 7 SEZs. While Jain made it to the Forbes? list of World?s Billionaires last year, his well-diversified company recorded consolidated revenues of Rs 1,534.50 crore and net profit of Rs 292.21 crore in FY07.

It was the urge to do something off the league that drove him to seek his fortune in the property business. While his father was a grain merchant, his brothers manufactured aluminium kitchenware. ?I did not find my family business very progressive,? he recalls. The man did set out on a different course and while on it, he steered clear of the often travelled path to set new trails. ?Even when I was a broker, I used to work for multiple locations. Even today, brokers work only for select areas. So, we catered to all the verticals and did a lot of hard work,? he puts forward.

Jain says that it was his dealing with clients at multi-levels and with leading developers like DLF, Unitech, Ansal, Rahejas etc that helped him in making it big for himself. ?The developers, with whom I used to work are quite responsible in making me what I am today. They seldom paid my fees on time. We were always running after them to pay up. This is the actual reason why I started the developing business,? he says rather matter-of-factly.

While he started as a broker, Jain soon became a contractor only to later don the hat of a developer. Jain was very ambitious from the very beginning. ?Had it not been for ambition, I would not have reached so far. The day we started with real-estate, we wanted to come up in a big way,? he says. While Parsvnath continues to gain a bigger footprint in the country, the company is also high on diversification. It has plans to foray into high growth areas like retail, telecom and asset management.

Recently, Parsvnath Hotel Ltd tied-up with Fortune Park Hotels Ltd (a subsidiary of ITC) and also with Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd to manage hotel properties across the country. The company also forayed into international market by tying-up with Oman-based Al-Hassan group. Moreover, reportedly, Parsvnath is in talks with Paris-based Carrefour for its retail foray. But, Jain is not ready to spill the beans just yet. Though he has so many offerings on his plate, Jain doesn?t call it diversification. ?Retail is a part of real-estate, so is asset management, airport infrastructure development, etc. I want to remain in the real-estate sector and also expand elsewhere,? he says.

Talk of failures (like the telecom one) and pat comes the reply, ?The word is not in my dictionary. Even when we fail, we feel that we have achieved something in our effort. If ten people are in a race, only one is going to win. Then why should one feel defeated,? feels Jain who seems to be thoroughly enjoying his stint with the real-estate sector. And the man is all for transparency in the sector which is marred by bad image.

?Real estate guys used to be considered land mafias, but no more,? admits Jain. He says that now there are developers who are listed, more people are joining real estate and there is more professionalism. However, he says that once the real-estate regulator comes in, ?The fly-by-night kind of developers will either run away or convert themselves into proper system of compliance.?

Jain says that going forward, real-estate will have one of the largest share of the stock market. ?There has been a dedicated real-estate index and developers are part of the Nifty, S&P etc. There is also lot of money coming from outside India and we as real estate developers are supporting over 270-280 industries, directly or indirectly. So, I don’t think there is a problem of transparency now,? he adds.

While he continues to put close to 10 hours at office everyday, an early morning visit to the club to keep fit is a must for him. On Sundays, the man likes to spend time with his son Pranav, daughter Neha and wife Nootan at their farmhouse that is if he is not visiting a place of worship or doesn?t have other social commitments to fulfil. Jain is a trustee of many religious bodies apart from being on the board of number of NGOs. His idea of social work is providing a better life to the 30,000-40,000 labourers involved with the construction work of the company. Jain likes to maintain good relationship with all, be it the oldest of his clients or his employees. ?Relationships always pay,? he says adding that his employees are always free to walk into his cabin.

When it comes to picking his top management, Jain has a unique style. Loyalty, past credentials and vision are three things that he looks for while hiring. ?If people have these qualities, then wherever you put them, they will perform,? he says. Ask him if he foresees his children joining his business in the future and he replies, ?We are answerable to the shareholders. I definitely want to make them better than me but don?t want to give the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth. Recounting his journey, Jain prefers to talk only of achievements and not challenges. ?When you step out to accomplish something and are successful, the struggles on the way don?t matter,? he believes. Jain may want to forget about all the odds, but he can?t deny that they surely lend a sweater taste to his success.

Fact File

* Pradeep Jain, chairman of Parsvnath Developers, a leading real-estate company started as a real-estate broker in 1982.

* Parsvnath?s IPO which hit the capital markets in 2006 marked the first listing of a real-estate company in a long time.

* Last year he was featured in the Forbes? list of World?s Billionaires.

* For FY07, Parsvnath?s consolidated revenues were Rs 1,534.50 crore and its net profit was Rs 292.21 crore

* Parsvnath has plans to diversify into high growth areas like retail, telecom and asset management.