Mantra Properties builds with trust
Exclusive Q&A with Ankit Gupta, the 24-year-old Managing Director of Mantra Properties
A young leader with global exposure and a trust-first mindset, Ankit Gupta, Managing Director, Mantra Properties is charting a strategic path that favours quality, credibility, and long-term vision over speed and scale. Excerpts from an interview.
You’ve stepped into a major leadership role at an unusually young age. What early influences or experiences gave you the confidence to take charge of Mantra’s UAE chapter now?
Leadership started long before I held a formal title. Growing up, I watched my father build global businesses from the age of 21, and that shaped my mindset early—discipline, clarity and long-term thinking matter far more than speed. My years studying across Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Paris gave me global exposure to different architectural languages and urban cultures, which helped form my own perspective. Stepping into leadership at 24 carries pressure, but also purpose. I’m here to carry forward a legacy built on trust, honesty and transparency — and to make sure those values guide everything we build in the UAE.
You entered the UAE market with Ras Al Khaimah as your first launch, and it became a huge success. With a new phase coming soon, what does that journey look like?
Our entry into the UAE began with conviction and Ras Al Khaimah validated that belief in a way we couldn’t have imagined. We recorded over Dh300 million in sales within just 12 hours becoming the fastest-selling development in the island’s history, signalling the UAE’s growing appetite for branded, design-led luxury living.
The upcoming phase, scheduled for launch in January, builds on that momentum. We are releasing an exclusive collection of units which will be a world first. The goal is to maintain exclusivity and continue to deliver value to our customers while meeting the demand from global investors and high-net-worth individuals who couldn’t secure units in the first leg.
You often talk about “trust over volume.” What does that look like in practice?
In the UAE, it’s easy to get swept into the race—launching 20 or 30 projects at once, expanding fast, and chasing visibility. But the risk with that model is losing the one thing we value most: trust. For us, restraint is intentional. We prefer to build fewer, high-quality, design-led projects with full focus rather than spread ourselves thin. Every development must strengthen our legacy, not dilute it. Mantra has spent 18 years delivering with discipline, and we cannot compromise that for scale, speed, or short-term wins. The UAE may currently represent just 5% of our broader group, but every decision here impacts the trust of the 8,000 families we serve in India. That long-term lens is what guides every move we make.
Looking ahead, where do you want Mantra to stand in the UAE’s future?
The UAE is entering a defining era—with tourism at record highs, mega-destinations like RAK reshaping demand, and each emirate building a distinct identity. Dubai will remain the global hub, Abu Dhabi the cultural capital, and Ras Al Khaimah the region’s emerging lifestyle and entertainment destination. Within that landscape, I want Mantra to be recognised as one of the most trusted, design-first developers across multiple emirates — not the biggest, but the most reliable. Our focus is disciplined growth, world-class products, and transparent delivery that give both local and global investors absolute confidence. If a decade from now people say we elevated design, upheld trust, and built responsibly, that’s the legacy worth building.
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