Pranab Datta, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India

Pranab Datta, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India, is a Chartered Accountant with around 37 years of multi-functional experience covering areas such as finance, sales, marketing, corporate planning and general management.In his career spanning over nearly 4 decades, including at top levels of management, he has gathered rich and rewarding experience encompassing various industries such as engineering, consumer durables, consumer and professional electronics, fast moving consumer goods and real estate.Prior to Knight Frank, Datta was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Gesco Developers Ltd., the flagship company of the Infrastructure Sector of the Mahindra Group, a very diversified and one of the largest and most respected business houses of India.He has been a Director with Knight Frank (I) Pvt. Ltd. since 2004, first as a non-executive director and since April 2007 in the current position.

Knight Frank India started in 1995 as a joint venture with renowned Indian promoters. iT is the leading independent global property consultancy. In 2007, Knight Frank India decided to consolidate and streamline its working to become a fully owned subsidiary of Knight Frank LLP. The company has presence across 7 principal metros across the country with strength of over 800 employees. It provides a comprehensive range of real estate related services covering residential, commercial, land, investments, hospitality & leisure, valuation, advisory services, facilities management and project management. Knight Frank delivers highest standards of quality and integrity in global property transactional, executive and advisory services. It has also delivered more than 3000 valuation reports, over 1500 consultancy assignments and manages over 12 million sq. ft. of commercial, retail and residential property in India.

Replying to Yash Ved of IIFL, Pranab Datta says, "The rates are likely to witness an upward trend from the third quarter of this calendar year with rising office space absorption."