Saraf and Partners has strengthened its Delhi-based Real Estate practice with the appointment of Nitin Saluja as a Partner, marking a significant lateral movement within India’s leading corporate law-firm ecosystem. Saluja joins the firm from AZB & Partners, where he spent more than a decade and rose from Associate to Partner in the Real Estate practice. His move is noteworthy not merely as an individual partner transition, but as part of the broader competition among Indian law firms to build specialised transactional teams capable of handling increasingly sophisticated real estate investments, financing structures, development arrangements and regulatory issues.
Saluja’s professional trajectory at AZB is itself indicative of the depth of experience he brings to his new role. He joined the firm as an Associate in 2015 and subsequently progressed through Senior Associate and Counsel positions before becoming a Partner in the Real Estate practice. His publicly available professional profile records extensive work involving acquisitions, joint development arrangements, debt funding, leasing portfolios, title due diligence and complex transactions involving real estate and infrastructure assets. AZB’s 2025 partnership announcement had also identified him among the lawyers elevated to Partner in its Delhi office, underscoring that his departure comes after having reached the partnership level at one of India’s most established corporate law firms.
The practice profile that Saluja brings to Saraf and Partners is particularly relevant to the present evolution of the Indian real estate market. His experience encompasses commercial, retail, residential, industrial, institutional and Special Economic Zone assets. He has advised private equity funds, developers, financial institutions and multinational corporations, giving his practice a transactional character that extends beyond conventional property-law advisory. His work involves acquisitions and investments, debt financing, leasing, joint development and collaboration arrangements, as well as transactions involving both operational assets and projects still under development.
This breadth matters because modern real estate transactions increasingly sit at the intersection of several legal disciplines. A large development transaction is rarely confined to title verification or drafting a sale agreement. It may involve acquisition structuring, foreign or domestic investment rules, financing arrangements, security creation, land-use permissions, construction and development regulations, taxation, stamp duty, registration, RERA compliance, environmental approvals and eventual monetisation or exit. The lawyer advising on such transactions consequently has to understand not merely property law but the commercial architecture within which the asset is being acquired, financed, developed and ultimately monetised.
Saluja’s experience appears aligned with precisely this integrated transactional model. His practice has included complex title and project due diligence and advice concerning RERA, stamp duty and registration laws. He has also worked on emerging real estate asset classes such as co-working and co-living, areas where conventional property structures increasingly intersect with new business models and evolving regulatory questions.
His previous transactional experience provides a further indication of the kind of institutional work he may bring to Saraf and Partners. While at AZB, he advised Varde Partners on large debt-financing transactions involving development of SEZ commercial projects and residential projects, and advised Virtuous Retail on transactions involving retail-mall development and acquisitions of interests in companies operating shopping malls. He has also advised investors on real estate investments involving SEZ, IT/ITES and commercial projects across several Indian cities. These transactions demonstrate exposure to both investment-side and development-side issues rather than a practice limited to a single category of property work.
The move assumes greater significance when viewed against the changing character of institutional investment in Indian real estate. Real estate has increasingly evolved from a predominantly developer-driven market into an asset class attracting private equity, institutional capital, sovereign investors, alternative investment funds, real estate investment trusts and structured-credit providers. This has consequently changed the nature of legal work. Investors require sophisticated title diligence, risk allocation, exit protections, regulatory structuring and financing advice, while developers require assistance in raising capital, structuring joint ventures and navigating increasingly detailed regulatory requirements.
The emergence of REITs, alternative investment structures and institutional ownership has also altered the concept of what constitutes a “real estate lawyer.” The traditional image of property practice centred on conveyancing, title opinions and litigation is now only one component of the field. At the institutional end of the market, lawyers increasingly participate in designing the transaction itself—determining how an asset is acquired, through which vehicle, with what financing, subject to what conditions precedent, and with what mechanism for eventual exit. Saluja’s practice profile fits this wider transactional understanding of real estate law.
The regulatory dimension is equally important. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 transformed the regulatory environment governing real estate projects by introducing greater institutional oversight, promoter obligations, project registration requirements and mechanisms for protecting allottees. Although RERA was primarily conceived from a regulatory and consumer-protection perspective, its effect has extended into investment structuring, transaction due diligence and risk assessment. Institutional investors cannot evaluate a development asset merely on commercial projections; they must also assess regulatory compliance, title risks, approvals, project status and potential liabilities arising from the regulatory framework.
Stamp duty and registration laws remain another major transactional consideration. The legal enforceability and economic efficiency of a property transaction can be significantly affected by the manner in which instruments are structured and registered. Likewise, title due diligence continues to be central because Indian land records, historical conveyances, encumbrances, development rights and local regulatory approvals can generate risks that are not always apparent from the face of a transaction document. The growing sophistication of institutional investors therefore creates sustained demand for lawyers who can conduct intensive diligence while simultaneously understanding the commercial objectives of the transaction.
Saluja’s experience with joint development and collaboration arrangements is particularly relevant in this context. Such arrangements require careful allocation of development rights, funding obligations, construction responsibilities, revenue-sharing mechanisms, approvals, default consequences and exit rights. They frequently involve multiple stakeholders whose interests are not identical. The legal adviser therefore performs a broader structuring function, attempting to convert commercial expectations into enforceable contractual rights while anticipating regulatory and execution risks.
The appointment also reflects Saraf and Partners’ own expansion strategy. The firm has increasingly positioned itself as an integrated transactional practice, with its leadership emphasising collaboration between Real Estate, M&A, Private Equity, Banking & Finance and Projects teams. Saluja’s appointment therefore appears designed not simply to add another property lawyer but to deepen the firm’s capacity to offer connected advice across multiple transactional verticals. The firm’s managing partner, Mohit Saraf, has specifically highlighted the intention to enhance integrated advice for funds, developers, financial institutions and corporates through collaboration among these practices.
That model is increasingly becoming a competitive necessity for Indian corporate law firms. Clients executing large transactions do not necessarily want separate advisers handling every legal component in isolation. A private equity fund investing in a real estate platform may simultaneously require advice on corporate structuring, financing, acquisition documents, tax considerations, regulatory approvals and property due diligence. A developer raising institutional debt may require banking, real estate, security and restructuring advice in a single transaction. Firms capable of coordinating these disciplines internally can therefore offer a more seamless service and potentially capture a larger portion of the transaction lifecycle.
The market context also explains why partner mobility has become increasingly consequential in India’s legal industry. A lateral partner appointment can bring more than individual expertise. Senior lawyers often carry institutional knowledge, client relationships, sector familiarity and an established understanding of transaction pipelines. Consequently, law firms increasingly view lateral hiring as a strategic method of building practices rapidly rather than relying exclusively on organic growth from within.
Saluja’s move is particularly interesting because it represents movement between two major Indian full-service firms rather than a conventional transition from a boutique practice into a larger platform. Such movements demonstrate that the Indian legal market is becoming increasingly competitive even at the upper end of the professional hierarchy. Established firms are not merely competing for clients; they are competing for lawyers capable of independently leading sophisticated practices and generating cross-practice transactional opportunities.
His departure also comes at a time when AZB continues to maintain a substantial real estate and construction practice. Recent industry publications have continued to recognise AZB’s work across construction and real estate transactions, including advice to domestic and international financial institutions, institutional investors, private equity real estate funds and developers. Saluja himself was among the contributors to the firm’s India chapter for the 2026 Construction Law global practice guide, reflecting his substantive involvement in the firm’s real estate and construction offering shortly before his move.
The timing is therefore notable. Saluja’s transition does not suggest an exit from the real estate sector; rather, it represents movement of specialised expertise between two significant platforms. From the standpoint of professional development, a partner-level lateral move can allow a lawyer to participate more directly in shaping the growth of a practice, develop new client relationships and contribute to a firm’s strategic positioning in a particular sector. For the receiving firm, the value lies in accelerating capability without having to build an equivalent practice entirely through internal promotions.
The broader commercial real estate environment makes such investment in specialist legal talent understandable. India’s urbanisation, growth of commercial real estate, expansion of warehousing and logistics, increasing institutionalisation of residential development and emergence of alternative asset classes are producing increasingly complex legal requirements. Co-living, co-working, data centres, logistics parks, warehousing assets and mixed-use developments often involve contractual and regulatory structures that differ significantly from traditional residential property transactions.
Environmental, social and governance considerations are also increasingly becoming relevant to institutional real estate investment. Recent legal-sector analysis involving Saluja and AZB colleagues has examined ESG measures and their impact on India’s real estate sector, reflecting how sustainability considerations are moving from peripheral policy discussions into transaction and investment decision-making. For institutional investors, environmental approvals, energy efficiency, climate-related risks and sustainability commitments can influence both acquisition diligence and the long-term valuation of an asset.
The evolution of real estate law consequently mirrors the broader transformation of India’s capital markets. Property is increasingly treated not merely as immovable physical wealth but as an investable financial asset capable of generating rental income, development returns, financing value and portfolio-level returns. Lawyers operating in this environment must therefore understand both the legal character of land and the financial mechanisms through which land and built assets are monetised.
There is also an important geographical dimension to the appointment. Saluja will be based in Saraf and Partners’ Delhi office, a location strategically relevant to real estate transactions because of its proximity to major developers, institutional investors, government authorities and large commercial markets across the National Capital Region and North India. At the same time, large real estate transactions are increasingly pan-Indian, requiring coordination across multiple State-specific land, stamp duty, registration and development regulations. A Delhi-based specialist with experience across several asset classes can therefore contribute to transactions extending well beyond the NCR.
The appointment should consequently be viewed as a strategic strengthening of Saraf and Partners’ transactional capabilities rather than simply a routine personnel announcement. Saluja’s experience places him at the intersection of real estate, private equity, finance and corporate transactions, precisely the areas where institutional clients increasingly seek integrated advice. His experience in title diligence and regulatory structuring adds another layer, enabling the practice to address both transactional execution and the underlying legal risks attached to real estate assets.
For the Indian legal profession, the development also highlights a broader trend: sector-specialised expertise is becoming one of the principal currencies of partner-level mobility. General corporate capability remains important, but clients increasingly select advisers based on their understanding of particular industries and transaction types. A lawyer who understands the regulatory, financial and commercial realities of a sector can offer more than technically correct documentation; they can help clients identify risks before they become disputes and structure transactions around those risks.
This is particularly true in real estate, where litigation frequently emerges years after the original transaction because of defects in title, development delays, regulatory non-compliance, financing defaults or disagreements between development partners. The quality of legal advice at the structuring and diligence stage can therefore have consequences far beyond the immediate transaction. Preventive legal analysis becomes commercially valuable precisely because property disputes are often expensive, protracted and capable of substantially eroding the economic value of an otherwise attractive asset.
Saluja’s movement thus illustrates a larger transition in Indian legal practice—from reactive property advice towards integrated real estate transactional counselling. The modern real estate lawyer increasingly participates from the inception of an investment through acquisition, development, financing, operation and eventual exit. The appointment of a lawyer with experience across that lifecycle strengthens a firm’s ability to remain involved at each stage rather than functioning merely as a document-drafting adviser at a single point in the transaction.
Ultimately, Nitin Saluja’s move from AZB & Partners to Saraf and Partners represents more than a change of professional address. It reflects the intensifying institutional competition for specialised transactional talent and the growing strategic importance of real estate within India’s corporate legal market. With experience spanning private equity investments, acquisitions, financing, leasing, development arrangements, title diligence and regulatory structuring, Saluja brings a practice that is closely aligned with the increasingly sophisticated demands of institutional real estate. For Saraf and Partners, the appointment strengthens an important transactional vertical; for the wider legal market, it is another indication that the next phase of competition among Indian law firms will increasingly be fought through specialised expertise, integrated practice capabilities and the ability to advise clients across the complete lifecycle of complex commercial transactions.
