Founded in 1979 by late Om Prakash Gupta, Ashiana Housing is promoted by three brothers, Vishal Gupta, Ankur Gupta and Varun Gupta. Ashiana is listed on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges in India. Ashiana is a leading real estate company in India developing affordable / mid-income housing including senior living. Focused on the middle-income segment, Ashiana has constructed 42 projects since inception, constructing over 20 million sq.ft. and over 10,000 units. As on 31 March, 2017, the Company is present in multiple city-clusters across India with over 2.4 million sqft of existing projects and a pipeline of over 8 million sqft of future projects. Ashiana is one of the pioneers of the senior living having launched its first senior living project in Bhiwadi in 2005. Subsequently, Ashiana launched four more senior living projects in Bhiwadi, Jaipur, Lavasa and Chennai.

The total project cost for which IFC's equity investment of US$23 million will be used is estimated at about US$267 million. IFC's debt investment will be used for general corporate purposes.

The project is expected to be located across various cities in India, but primarily in Jaipur (Rajasthan), Pune (Maharashtra) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

 This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability because a limited number of specific environmental and social impacts may result which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria. 

Key risks and issues related to this project include: company’s capacity, systems and staffing to manage social, environmental, health and safety aspects of its operations; adequate social and environmental assessment of the impacts of the Project's designs and construction activities in accordance with legal requirements and IFC Performance Standards; assurance of fair, safe and healthy living and working conditions for the workers (especially during construction); conservation of energy, water and process materials including recycling and reuse initiatives through green building design; management of air emissions, wastewater treatment and solid waste during construction and operations; acquisition of land for the projects in accordance with IFC Performance Standard requirements; life and fire safety design of the projects and impacts on transport infrastructure during construction on nearby communities.