“India’s ageing transition is no longer a distant demographic story” - Rajagopal G, Chairman, ASLI, at the launch of the ASLI-JLL report
India’s residential real estate sector is starting to respond to a demographic shift. As the population ages, housing for the later years is drawing attention, and senior living is becoming a larger part of that conversation.
According to the September 2026 ASLI-JLL report, India’s Silver Economy: From Niche to Necessity, India had an estimated 166.9 million people aged 60 and above in 2026. That figure is projected to reach 191.5 million by 2030.
The same report counted 25,050 organised senior living units as of June 2026, with supply growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.2% since 2024.
Colliers’ August 2026 report puts the market in rupees and units:
JLL and Colliers measure the addressable market differently, so the gap between supply and demand is indicative rather than exact. Whether it closes will turn on affordability and location, and on whether the housing fits the people it is built for.
At the 2024 ASLI Ageing Fest, Samantak Das, Chief Economist at JLL India, described senior living as three parts: real estate in independent living, hospitality in assisted living, and healthcare in skilled nursing care.
Independent living suits older adults who manage their daily routines themselves. Assisted living adds support for everyday activities, and integrated settings bring housing and different levels of care together. Each calls for its own mix of staffing, facilities and management, so a development for independent residents has different operational requirements from one providing daily personal assistance.
Step-free access, suitable lifts and clearly planned circulation shape how freely a resident can move through the building. Inside the home, good lighting, accessible bathrooms and easy-to-use fittings matter as much. Outdoors, shaded walking paths, convenient seating and accessible landscaped areas make time outside easier, and site planning affects how much of that room there is. Swarang, the senior living project by Ashiana Housing and Arihant Spaces at Nemmeli on East Coast Road, is low-rise, with roughly 3 of its 10.8 acres given to landscaping.
Indoor air quality is part of how a home feels day to day, whatever the age of the resident. Arihant’s blog Breathing Better at Home: The Importance of Indoor Air Quality looks at it in more detail.
The sector’s growth is not confined to established metropolitan markets. Colliers’ August 2026 research anticipates that Tier II and Tier III cities, along with spiritual destinations, could account for 30–40% of anticipated new senior living launches.
For older residents, a location works or fails on a handful of questions:
In Chennai, Arihant Spaces and Ashiana Housing have worked in tandem since 2015, beginning with Ashiana Shubham at Maraimalai Nagar. Track2Realty has ranked Ashiana India’s No. 1 senior living brand for nine consecutive years. The location was chosen for its connectivity, infrastructure and medical facilities, and for sitting at some distance from the city’s commercial bustle, much like the questions listed above.
Shubham was delivered in phases, with the first residents moving in during 2018 while later phases were still being built. In 2021, it was named Senior Living Project of the Year (South) at the 13th Realty+ Excellence Awards.
Swarang is at Nemmeli on East Coast Road, where the backwaters meet the sea, and it stays connected to the city while sitting away from its bustle. The planning is low-rise and low in density, at around 40 units per acre, which leaves more of the 10.8-acre site open. Roughly 3 acres are landscaped, the kind of room the outdoor paragraph above describes.
A senior living community carries responsibilities that continue long after the homes are handed over. Operations, trained personnel, maintenance and access to care shape the resident experience for years.
The September 2026 Silver Surge 2.0 report by ASLI and PwC India points to the care side of the gap: 75% of surveyed providers name workforce training as a priority. For a developer, that moves the question from the building to the people and arrangements that sustain it. Blueprints for Progress: Role of Real Estate Developers in Community Development from Arihant takes up the wider question of how residential development contributes to the places people live in.
A retired couple who manage their own routines and a resident who needs help each morning are looking for different buildings, even when they are the same age. Assisted living makes up under 10% of India’s organised senior living stock, against 24 to 29% in more mature markets, and the country has about 2,100 organised assisted-living beds. The second resident has far fewer places to go.
