Manab Paul was warned before he began. When he first tried the second-home idea in Shantiniketan, he tells Barun, people around him doubted it, telling him he'd thrown his money away on a spot where, past four in the afternoon, there was nothing to see but cows, goats and Manab Paul himself. He built there anyway, then took the same idea north to the Dooars. Episode 18 of the Deep Down Show, which closed out the show's first season, is Paul's account of how a construction career turned into the Sree Balaji Group and its Panthaniwas second-home brand, run since 2010.
Host Barun frames the episode around a simple question: should anyone start a real estate business now, given how mature the sector already looks after two decades of rapid growth? Paul's answer runs through his own path from construction work to full-time developer, his bet on North Bengal's smaller towns over Kolkata's crowded core, and his repeated insistence that a lack of English or a lack of capital is never really the reason someone doesn't start.
From construction to conviction
Paul describes construction becoming less a profession and more, in his words, a "nesha" — an addiction he pursued out of passion rather than a fixed plan. He says he did not map his career out in advance; instead he took the options that were open to him, one project teaching him something the next project needed. That hands-on construction background, he suggests, is what let him move into development with a practical sense of costs and problems that many purely investment-driven builders don't have.
He is candid that things did not always go smoothly. As an example of a decision he now second-guesses, he recalls shifting offices more than once in the early years, including stepping back from a bigger space at least once because he didn't yet feel ready to justify it. He also says he wound down his Kolkata-centric city operations around 2010, choosing instead to build in holiday destinations rather than compete in an already crowded urban real estate market.
Second homes in Shantiniketan and the Dooars
The idea behind Panthaniwas, as Paul describes it, was to make second homes and "lifestyle housing" affordable for ordinary buyers rather than a luxury product for the few. He says he deliberately avoided premium pricing, aiming instead at a middle-class customer who wanted a holiday property without stretching for something exclusive.
Shantiniketan came first. Dooars came next, and Paul spends real time on why he thinks its geography is a genuine advantage: it sits near three international borders, is close to Siliguri, and offers views such as Kanchenjunga from parts of the region. He describes the appeal to a buyer in practical terms — a place close enough for a single day's outing, or a short weekend trip, rather than a long-haul holiday. He also argues that North Bengal's tourism potential is still largely untapped compared to how developed it could be, which he sees as room to grow rather than a market already saturated.
On real estate as an investment more broadly, Paul is direct: he considers it comparatively secure, because unlike many products its value rarely falls. He also brings up a lighter version of his marketing philosophy — that a satisfied customer, not an advertisement, is the biggest brand ambassador a real estate business can have.
English is a skill, not a marker of intelligence
A recurring theme of the conversation is Paul's own background: he studied in Bengali medium and dropped out of college. Barun draws this out at length, and Paul pushes back firmly on the idea that fluency in English says anything about someone's capability. He says he was once afraid of the language himself, and argues that English should be treated as a skill to be learned over time — like any other — rather than a badge that separates smart people from everyone else. Mindset, he tells Barun, decides what a person can build far more than which language they speak at home.
He extends the same logic to starting a business with little capital. Rather than framing low capital as a dead end, he frames it as a starting condition to work around through resourcefulness and out-of-the-box thinking — a phrase he returns to more than once as the real differentiator for any new venture, whether it's a student-run startup or a real estate brand.
Giving back to the land that gave
One of the more personal moments in the conversation concerns a Panthaniwas project built in a tribal area. Paul says that project gave his business a great deal, and that this created an obligation to pay something back to the community whose land and cooperation made the project possible in the first place. He talks about treating this "payback to society" as continuous rather than a one-off gesture, tying it to sustainability efforts he says he tries to build into his projects going forward.
On the policy side, Paul references rising government budget allocations for housing — citing figures moving from around ₹79,500 crore in a previous year's budget to a higher target this year — as a sign that the state is putting more capital into the sector, which he reads as a broadly positive signal for developers and buyers alike.
Who is Manab Paul
Manab Paul is the founder of the Sree Balaji Group and the creator of the Panthaniwas second-home brand, which he has run since 2010. A Bengali-medium student and college dropout, he built his early career in construction before moving into real estate development, first in Shantiniketan and then in the Dooars in North Bengal. He describes himself as guided less by a fixed plan than by taking the opportunities in front of him and learning from each project's problems as they came.
Why this conversation matters
As the closing episode of the Deep Down Show's first season, this conversation works as a counter to the idea — explored elsewhere on the show, including in the why-do-Bengalis-not-do-business episode — that language, formal education or capital are what decide who gets to build a business. Paul's path from a Bengali-medium classroom and an unfinished college degree to running a real estate brand across two regions of Bengal sits alongside other founder stories on the show, like Deep Das's, that make the same point from different starting lines: the constraint people cite as the reason they can't start is rarely the real one.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Manab Paul?
Manab Paul is the founder of the Sree Balaji Group and the creator of the Panthaniwas second-home brand, which he has run since 2010. He started with a project in Shantiniketan and later expanded into the Dooars in North Bengal.
What is Panthaniwas?
Panthaniwas is Manab Paul's second-home concept, offering holiday properties aimed at middle-class buyers rather than a premium luxury segment. He describes wanting to make the second-home idea affordable for the mass market rather than a small elite.
Why does Manab Paul favour the Dooars for second homes?
He points to the Dooars' geography as a natural advantage: it sits near three international borders, is close to Siliguri, and offers views such as Kanchenjunga. He describes it as a destination people can visit for a day trip or a short weekend break, which he sees as a strong pull for holiday-home buyers.
Does Manab Paul think real estate is a good investment?
Yes. He argues real estate is a comparatively secure investment because property values tend not to fall the way other assets can.
Why does Manab Paul say English is not a barrier in business?
Paul studied in Bengali medium and dropped out of college, and he says he was once afraid of English himself. He tells Barun that English is a skill anyone can pick up with practice, not proof of being smart, and that mindset matters far more than the language someone speaks.
What does Manab Paul say about social responsibility in his business?
He describes a second-home project in a tribal area as one that gave his business a great deal, which he says created a duty to pay something back to that community. He frames this ongoing 'payback to society' alongside sustainability as a continuous part of running his projects, not a one-time gesture.
Why does Manab Paul expect real estate in Bengal to keep growing?
He points to government budget allocations for housing rising year on year as a signal of continued investment in the sector, alongside what he sees as still-largely-untapped tourism potential in North Bengal.
