Sushil Mohta: The Visionary Founder Behind Merlin Group’s Growth
Sushil Mohta is the founder and chairman of the Merlin Group, one of Eastern India's best-known real estate companies, built over four decades from Kolkata.
Sushil Mohta is a Kolkata developer who started Merlin Projects Limited in 1984 and grew it, without outside funding rounds, into a group with more than fifty residential and commercial complexes. His career is worth studying for entrepreneurs who want to build slowly, reinvest profits and still end up with a national footprint.
This biography covers his early life, how he built the Merlin Group, the landmark deals and projects behind the brand, his role in the Indian real estate industry, and the lessons founders can take from his story.
Who is Sushil Mohta?
Sushil Kumar Mohta is an Indian real estate developer and entrepreneur based in Kolkata, West Bengal. He is the founder and chairman of the Merlin Group, a diversified company headquartered at 22 Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kolkata. The group builds residential complexes, commercial offices, IT parks, retail malls, industrial estates, hospitality properties and townships.
Merlin now operates in Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Raipur and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Its stated mission is "a home for every Indian."
Mohta is also a Founder Member of CREDAI India, the apex body of Indian real estate developers, and the President of CREDAI West Bengal. His son, Saket Mohta, is the group's Managing Director and leads day-to-day operations and expansion.
How did Sushil Mohta start the Merlin Group?
Mohta founded Merlin Projects Limited in 1984. The company was incorporated that year but began active development in 1990, building its early reputation on residential housing in Kolkata.
Learning in the family business
Mohta grew up in a Marwari family in Kolkata and idolised his father, a self-made businessman. After finishing his education at St. Xavier's College at 17, he went straight into the family business instead of continuing formal study.
There he picked up the business and people-management skills he later relied on when launching his own company: client relationships, financial discipline and team leadership.
Why real estate
Kolkata in the early 1980s had large unmet housing demand after years of underinvestment in residential construction. Entering residential development at that point positioned Merlin to ride four decades of demand recovery and economic growth.
Mohta framed the business as more than a commercial activity. Merlin's mission, "a home for every Indian," treats housing as a contribution to the communities the buildings serve.
Growing without outside funding
Merlin is privately held and unlisted. It has grown entirely through internal accruals and project revenues rather than institutional funding rounds, a model of patient, organic growth that reflects a focus on building for the long term over short-term returns.
Where did Sushil Mohta receive his education?
Mohta studied commerce at St Xavier's College in Kolkata, a Jesuit institution founded in 1860 and affiliated with the University of Calcutta. He completed his studies there at 17, and the college is known for academic rigour and ethical formation.
His learning did not stop at graduation. Over the decades he has studied housing and urban development in developed countries, looking at changing consumer preferences, modern planning of condominium projects, shopping malls and schools, and new construction techniques. He has applied that research to Merlin's projects.
He has also taken part in international and national forums, including the Global Real Estate Institute (GRI), the Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI), and FICCI and CII engagements.
What has Sushil Mohta built with the Merlin Group?
Merlin has developed more than fifty residential and commercial complexes and over 150 independent bungalows. Its residential projects include Merlin Homestead, Merlin The One, Merlin Edge, Merlin Rise and Merlin Heights. They sit at the premium end of Kolkata's market, while the group says its mission keeps accessible housing in view too.
South City Mall and Acropolis
Mohta served on the boards of two of Kolkata's biggest retail destinations, South City Mall and Acropolis Mall. South City has over one million square feet of retail space, an annual turnover of Rs 1,800 crore and roughly two million visitors a month.
In June 2025, Blackstone bought South City Mall from its owners, including Merlin, for Rs 3,250 crore. It was the largest real estate transaction in Kolkata's history and the biggest mall deal in Eastern India. Mohta said the exit fits Merlin's plans for new malls, IT parks and residential projects across Kolkata and Pune.
World Trade Center Kolkata
Merlin developed World Trade Center Kolkata at Salt Lake Sector V, in partnership with the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NDITA). Saket Mohta has positioned it as the first World Trade Center in Eastern India, aimed at attracting national and international technology and business services companies.
Expansion beyond Kolkata
Under Sushil Mohta as chairman and Saket Mohta as managing director, Merlin has expanded to Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Raipur and Colombo. In Pune, the Elementa 2.0 project completed the final slab of its C Building in 2025, Merlin's first use of MIVAN aluminium-formwork technology there. In February 2025 the group announced a Fashion TV branded residential project.
What is Sushil Mohta's role in the real estate industry?
Mohta is a Founder Member of CREDAI India, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India, one of the senior developers who helped establish the national body. He also serves as President of CREDAI West Bengal, also known as CREDAI Bengal.
In those roles he represents Kolkata and West Bengal developers in state and national policy discussions, takes up homebuyer grievances, and advocates for reforms that make doing business in real estate easier.
Outside the industry, he is an Advisory Board Member of the Dronah Foundation, which supports built heritage, community and environment work. His social engagement also includes blood donation camps held in partnership with the Indian Army and other civic welfare initiatives.
Who is in Sushil Mohta's family?
Mohta was born into a Marwari family in Kolkata. His father, a self-made businessman, was his earliest role model and mentor.
His son, Saket Mohta, is the Managing Director of the Merlin Group and the second generation of the family to lead it. Saket handles day-to-day operations and the push into Pune and other cities, while Sushil Mohta provides the founding vision and strategic oversight. The pairing is often cited as a successful first-to-second-generation succession in Indian real estate.
What is Sushil Mohta's net worth?
His personal net worth is not publicly disclosed. Merlin Projects is privately held and unlisted, and has grown through internal accruals and project revenues.
What can you learn from Sushil Mohta's story?
- Learn the trade before you start. Mohta spent his early years in his father's business, gaining the management and people skills he used to launch Merlin.
- Pick a market with unmet demand. Kolkata's housing shortage in the early 1980s gave a new residential developer room to grow for decades.
- Grow on your own cash flow. Merlin expanded through internal accruals and project revenues, not funding rounds, which kept the company independent.
- Build a reputation project by project. The group's brand rests on delivering on commitments, and it is one of the group's most valuable assets.
- Keep studying. Decades of research into housing practices in developed countries fed back into Merlin's design and construction choices.
- Time your exits. The South City Mall sale to Blackstone freed capital for new malls, IT parks and residential projects in Kolkata and Pune.
- Plan the handover. Bringing Saket Mohta in as Managing Director let the founder stay in a strategic role while the next generation drives expansion.
Sushil Mohta started a Kolkata housing business in 1984 and built it, patiently and largely on its own earnings, into a multi-city real estate group. For founders, the takeaway is that long-term thinking, reputation and succession planning can matter as much as speed.
Further Reading & Primary Sources
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