A man of many facets, Mr. Irfan Razack, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Prestige Group, has been the chief architect of the company’s growth. His leadership skills were on display right from his days as a student leader at St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru. In recognition of his achievements of those days, the St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association has honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Those who know him well will tell you that Irfan can spot opportunities where none apparently exist. He has the courage to take the untrodden path and the determination to see his vision through. In his march forward, Irfan has been ably assisted by his brothers Rezwan Razack and Noaman Razack.
His leadership acumen received national recognition when he was declared ‘Professional of the Year’ at the Real Estate Excellence Awards 2008. He has been Honorary Secretary of the Al Ameen Educational Society for 21 years, the President of Bangalore Commercial Association (BCA), and the Chairman of the Real Estate Committee of CREDAI, Karnataka for 4 years. In the past, he has served as Vice-President of CREDAI National and as Chairman of the same.
Irfan has been a special invitee to the southern regional council of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). His views on the real estate business is much sought after across various forums.
While Irfan propels the Falcon to newer heights, he keeps himself rooted to the ground. A concerned citizen and a caring individual, Irfan spends both time and resources on philanthropic and social causes. His dream of contributing more towards the education segment led to the ‘Educate India Foundation’, another Prestige initiative through which he co-founded the Inventure Academy (estb. 2005), a leading K-12 International School in Bangalore.
A past President of Rotary Midtown, Bengaluru, he is still actively involved in the club’s activities, and is also a Paul Harris Fellow. Among his many initiatives is the Rotary Midtown Prestige Citizen Extraordinaire Award to honour citizens of Bengaluru who have contributed to society in a significant way. In 2015, he was also inducted as a member of the esteemed Arch C Klumph Society – a special fellowship offered to only a privileged few from the Rotary Foundation.
Irfan has received recognition from the United Nations University International’s Leadership Academy (UNU/ILA) in Jordan. He was also voted as one of the Best CEOs in Asia (Best In India) in the reputed Institutional Investor (II) magazine’s 2014 All-Asia Executive Team Rankings. Considered among the most respected businessmen in India today, Irfan was conferred the Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Award 2015 by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
In Irfan’s words
At Prestige, growth and expansion is constant, as change is constant. So, we have to think creatively all the time to see how new initiatives can be taken up.
Last year, we actively got into the warehousing market and have been pursuing this asset class more aggressively this year. We are also focusing on several new launches in different parts of Bengaluru as well as in Chennai and Mangaluru. We are launching 2 to 3 large-scale IT developments in Bengaluru. Simultaneously, we are also in the process of finalizing a piece of land in Pune for an IT Park.
New investments are a continuous trend but the current assets in the retail, hospitality and IT Parks segments need to get completed. While we are always on the lookout for fresh opportunities that may come along, we would also like to consolidate our position and complete what is on hand.