Sobha Ltd gets 80 out of 100 in Pune builder check; Nesara possession dates have slipped

Sobha Ltd has received a working score of 80 out of 100 in PTM's series of checks on builders in Pune. The score is an editorial assessment. It can change with new MahaRERA filings, project completion records, financial information, customer evidence or a substantive reply from the builder. Confidence in the evidence is described as high for corporate information and financial disclosures, and medium to high for Pune projects and the MahaRERA assessment.

Sobha is a name known across the country. According to the company's own website, it has completed more than 595 projects totalling about 154.23 million sq ft in 28 cities and has a staff of more than 14,700. These figures are for the whole company, not its Pune business. The company's marketing office in Pune is in Viman Nagar. Its current residential project is Sobha Nesara in Kothrud. Sobha Orion on the NIBM-Kondhwa link road is an older, completed project with MahaRERA registration P52100002044.

The score breaks down as follows: 14 out of 20 for delivery and execution, 13 out of 15 for track record, 10 out of 15 for MahaRERA and regulatory record, 9 out of 10 for construction quality, 7 out of 10 for customer experience and 9 out of 10 for financial strength. Pune presence and scale got 6.5 out of 10, transparency and governance 4.5 out of 5, and innovation and sustainability a full 5 out of 5. The last figure was printed wrongly in the original table and has been corrected to 5/5.

Most attention has gone to Nesara, which has three MahaRERA registrations. The date for Block 1 (P52100020057) was earlier March 2025 and is now recorded as March 2026. Three MahaRERA complaints are registered against it. Another RERA record shows two declared cases linked to Block 1 pending in the Pune district court. The date for Block 2 (P52100020034) was September 2025, and one RERA-based dataset shows its registration as lapsed. The current date for Block 3 (P52100020062) is March 2027. A third-party analysis says this has slipped 24 months from the original filing. The same analysis records one complaint and three declared lawsuits.

In the RERA-based records under Sobha Ltd's PAN there are five projects, four in Pune and one in Mumbai. Three of them show a delay of six months or more. The report says clearly that this does not make Sobha unfit to be trusted. A complaint does not mean guilt, and a declared lawsuit does not mean a ruling went against the company. But a buyer should check the project and the tower separately, and not go only by Sobha's national name.

Nationally, the company's delivery is described as strong. Its operational update for the first quarter of FY26 shows about 1.07 million sq ft of saleable area completed and 594 homes handed over in the quarter. The same disclosure said work in Hyderabad and Pune was comparatively slow because of limited inventory. Pune therefore cannot automatically be credited with the record of bigger markets such as Bengaluru.

On construction quality, the company is known for engineering, craftsmanship and vertical integration. It describes itself as having a backward-integrated model that includes work such as interiors, glazing, metal work and concrete products. Nesara in Kothrud is a premium project of about three acres with large 3.5, 4 and 4.5 bedroom flats. According to the company, it is near the NDA hills and has 293 apartments across the three blocks. The address is given as Survey No. 77/Plot No. 1, Jijau Mansaheb Marg, near Chandni Chowk. Even so, the report says the firm yardstick of a building's quality is independent technical inspection, records of defects and the experience of residents, so one point has been deducted.

Customer experience is mixed. According to the company's site, it has built more than 34,000 homes across the country. A consumer complaint of December 2024 raised questions about the reporting of progress of work at Nesara, communication with buyers and information on extensions of time. It is treated as a single complaint, not proof of the company's attitude. A 2025 Reddit discussion had complaints about booking refunds and customer service on another Sobha project, not connected to Pune. The Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report for FY2024-25 recorded 4,769 project-related queries or complaints, of which 298 were pending at year-end. Of 39 RERA-related cases, 31 were pending. These are figures for the whole company.

On the financial side, as a listed company it provides quarterly and annual results, investor presentations and credit ratings. Its results of May 2026 said sales in FY2026 went above Rs 8,000 crore and PAT rose 124 per cent. In July 2026, sales in the first quarter of FY27 were above Rs 3,600 crore. The report says this reduces one kind of risk, but even a strong listed company's projects can face delays or disputes.

Pune presence got 6.5 points because the company's Pune portfolio is small. On its Pune website Nesara is the only current residential project, while Bengaluru, Chennai, NCR and Kerala have many more.

The report advises buyers to ask five questions. First, what is the MahaRERA registration number of the tower in which the flat is to be bought. Second, what was the original possession date recorded with MahaRERA and what is it now. Third, whether there are complaints or declarations of litigation against that registration. Fourth, what percentage of the work has actually been done, beyond the sales team saying "work is in full swing". Fifth, what written arrangement for compensation or adjustment exists if possession goes past the fixed date.

According to the report, the score could rise if Nesara's Block 3 shows work on time and later projects in Pune add to the company's local record. It could fall if there is new serious delay, new complaints or adverse regulatory orders. Sobha Ltd has been invited to give a written response. The assessment is not legal, financial, investment or property-purchase advice. Buyers have been asked to check the title, MahaRERA registration, sanctioned plans and all contractual terms themselves, and not to treat third-party RERA databases as a substitute for official records.