Career
In 1999, just a few years after graduating, Gehlaut co-founded Indiabulls as an online stock brokerage, starting operations from a small office in Delhi with two college friends from IIT. [5] [6] The young Indiabulls team managed to attract prominent investors – for example, industrialist Lakshmi N. Mittal and US-based Farallon Capital invested in the company in its early years. [7] Gehlaut took Indiabulls to the public markets in September 2004, when Indiabulls Financial Services had a successful IPO at ₹19 per share. [8] This public listing marked the group’s entry into India’s stock exchanges and laid the groundwork for its expansion.
After establishing a foothold in financial services, Gehlaut steered the Indiabulls Group into new sectors. In 2005, Indiabulls made a major foray into real estate by acquiring large defunct mill properties in Central Mumbai (Jupiter Mills and Elphinstone Mills), which led to the creation of Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL). [9] Within a few years, IBREL grew into one of India’s significant realty developers – it was noted as one of the country’s largest real estate companies by assets, with high-profile commercial and residential projects in cities like Mumbai and Delhi (and even an expansion to London). [10] The Group has businesses spread across housing and consumer finance through independent and listed companies in the Indian stock exchanges. Indiabulls Housing Finance, the Group's flagship company, is Ba2 rated by S&P. [11]
In addition to realty and housing finance, Gehlaut briefly ventured into the power and infrastructure sector. Indiabulls set up power generation projects in the late 2000s as part of its diversification, and the group signaled plans to expand into power and energy businesses. [12]
Under Sameer Gehlaut’s leadership, the Indiabulls Group spawned several notable companies across industries. Below are some of the key ventures and roles associated with Gehlaut:
- Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IBHFL) – Under his tenure, Indiabulls Housing earned credit ratings in the investment-grade range and was a major player in India’s mortgage market. [13] Indiabulls Housing name was changed to Sammaan Capital. [14] On 2nd October 2025 IHC, a $250 B conglomerate acquired 40% stake in the company for a billion dollars [15]
- Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) – The realty arm launched in 2005 after Indiabulls acquired prime land in Mumbai. [16] Gehlaut was founder-promoter and (until 2021) chairman of IBREL, overseeing the development of commercial complexes like One Indiabulls Centre and high-end residential projects. Indiabulls Real Estate quickly rose to be among the top real estate developers in India by assets and net worth. [17] In 2020–21, Gehlaut began stepping back from this business as it moved toward a merger with Embassy Group [18]
- Indiabulls Ventures / Dhani Services – This started as Indiabulls’ stock broking and consumer finance subsidiary (originally Indiabulls Securities, later Indiabulls Ventures). In 2020, Gehlaut rebranded it as Dhani Services Ltd, transforming it into a fintech platform offering digital healthcare and finance services via the “Dhani” app [19]
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