What does development management mean in a housing project?

The plot owner pays for and owns the project, and a branded builder is hired for a fee to design, promote and supervise construction. The brand's name appears on the project, but land and financial risk remain with the owner.

In what way does a JV differ from a JDA?

A joint venture puts the partners into a single entity that owns the scheme and shares profit. Under a JDA the owner and the builder remain separate and divide flats or proceeds by contract.

Which party counts as promoter if the builder and the seller are different people?

Each of them. RERA's section 2(zk) deems a builder and a separate seller to be promoters, jointly answerable for the duties that fall on a promoter.

How can a buyer learn who the project's promoter is?

The project's page on the state RERA website names the promoter and gives owner details. What the sale agreement shows on its first page, and the payee on payments, should agree with that.

Is the 70% account rule applicable in every structure?

It is. In any registered project, 70% of what buyers pay goes into a dedicated account that pays for land and building, however the project is organised.

Bangalore Project Structures Explained: JDA, JV and DM

A famous builder's name on a hoarding tells a buyer very little about who actually owns the plot, who banks the instalments or who must answer for a delay. Projects wearing one brand can be organised in quite different ways. Below are the five usual arrangements in Bangalore, the legal view of each and the questions worth settling before a booking.

Starting With the Word Promoter

The RERA Act of 2016 puts responsibility towards buyers on the "promoter". Section 2(zk) draws the net wide. It catches whoever constructs flats to sell, whoever cuts land into plots, a public authority selling homes or sites, and any builder working under a POA granted by the plot owner.

One clause in that definition matters for every shared arrangement. When one party constructs and another party sells, both are treated as promoters. Each of them carries the statutory duties jointly with the other.

Answers on ownership are found in the ownership records, the registration entry on RERA and the sale agreement. Advertising settles none of them.

Five Ways a Project Can Be Organised

Most homes in the city come from one of these set-ups, and listed builders frequently mix several. A corporate presentation of March 2026 from Shriram Properties sorts its pipeline under four labels, namely JV, DM, JDA and land it owns.

Buying the plot outright

The builder buys the plot, with the sale deed registered in its favour, and holds it in its own name or a subsidiary's. One company is owner, constructor, seller and collector of money. Of all the arrangements this reads most simply, because the contract's seller is also the owner shown in the ownership documents.

Sharing land and cost: the JDA

A JDA pairs a plot owner, who supplies the land, with a builder, who pays for construction. Finished flats (an area share) or sale proceeds (a revenue share) are split in a ratio fixed at the start. The owner normally retains title until flats are sold, and the builder acts under a registered POA.

Joint venture

Partners such as an owner and a builder, or a builder and an investor, set up one entity for the scheme. It is normally a company or LLP created for that scheme only. That vehicle takes in the land or the right to develop it, collects funds and splits profit between partners, so the promoter on record can carry a name buyers have never come across.

Development management

In a DM model the plot owner remains the registered developer and meets the whole cost. A well-known builder is engaged for a fee to design, promote, sell and run construction. The scheme carries that builder's name, yet land, bank account and financial exposure belong to the owning company. The fee is not linked to owning any share.

Land given by a public body

A government agency may allot, lease or auction the plot. Its allotment letter or lease document sets terms on permitted use, construction deadlines and any transfer of the plot. A breach may put the allotment in danger, so a buyer needs to read those terms as part of ownership. If the agency builds and sells itself, the Act names it promoter.

A Quick Comparison

For each arrangement, here is who holds the land, who pays for the work and what a buyer should test first:

Own land: the builder holds the land and pays, so inspect ownership papers and any loan against the plot
JDA: the plot owner holds the land and the builder pays, so find out which share the flat belongs to and read the POA
Joint venture: the project entity holds the land and pays, so learn the entity's shareholders and sources of funds
DM: the owning company holds the land and pays, so check if the brand is named on the registration as well
Public authority land: the authority, or the allottee under its terms, holds the land, so study the allotment or lease conditions

RERA in a Shared Project

Some provisions apply whatever the set-up. Registration with the state regulator is needed unless the plot measures up to 500 square metres, or the whole project, all phases included, has at most eight apartments. A dedicated bank account must receive 70% of buyers' payments, to be spent on land and construction.

Withdrawals from that account follow work completed, and three professionals certify the progress: a CA, an engineer and an architect. This ties the money to what has actually been built.

In a JDA, a plot owner who sells flats becomes a promoter alongside the builder. Karnataka RERA circulated a note in 2019 about bringing such owners into the registration. Payments from buyers of the owner's flats then fall under the 70% rule, so those buyers have equal rights if the project is late or defective.

DM deserves closer reading. The registered promoter is typically the owning company, and the brand works under a services contract. If the brand itself signs sale papers or receives payments, section 2(zk) makes it jointly liable. Where it does neither, a buyer's claim goes first to the owning company.

Finding the Arrangement Behind a Project

Brochures seldom state it, but three records reveal it before any money changes hands:

The state RERA website entry, which gives the promoter name, owner details and uploaded ownership papers
The draft sale agreement, whose opening page names those legally bound to the buyer
The payment instructions, in which the account holder should match both the promoter and the designated project account

If the promoter differs from the brand, ask the sales team to explain the connection in writing. Valid answers include a subsidiary, a project entity, a JDA owner or a DM client, and each leads to different checks.

Questions Before Booking

Whichever arrangement applies, these questions cover the basics:

Is the land mortgaged, and in whose name is the title today
Who owns the company named as promoter on the registration
Does the flat belong to the builder's portion or the plot owner's, if there is a JDA
If the brand and the owner separate in a JV or DM scheme, what becomes of the project
Who executes the sale deed, and under which authority
Which party gives the structural defect cover of five years and passes the scheme to the residents' association

A title opinion from an independent lawyer is the chief safeguard in all of these. It should cover the development agreement, the POA and any charge held by a lender, besides the ownership papers. For a project listed here, our team can help a buyer ask for the papers, and the details are on our contact page.

Who Really Owns the Project? Land Models Behind Bangalore Apartments Explained