Sai Rama Raju Marella

Sai Rama Raju Marella is an architect and urban planner. He earned his master’s degree from CEPT University specialising in housing. He has considerable professional experience in the fields of architecture, urban design, urban planning and real estate. Prior to IIHS, Sai Rama worked with Aarusha Home Pvt. Ltd. on rental housing with a focus on students and single-employee segment. Here, he piloted a project for blue-collar low-income industrial workers. He has also worked with the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department of Gujarat under the Affordable Housing Mission as a Town Planning Specialist. He worked as a state coordinator for the Slum Free City Plan of Action and assisted urban local bodies in the in-situ development of slums and was also involved in state policies and programmes related to housing and slum development in Gujarat. Sai Rama has also worked with the Centre for Research Development Consultancy (CRDC-CEPT University) on urban design projects including on the new campus for the Sardar Patel Institute for Public Administration (SPIPA) in Ahmedabad. He has also worked on the planning and design aspects and Kolawada Lake Front Development master planning and design aspects.

Sai Rama is a Senior Associate with the Academics and Research team. He is part of the housing team at IIHS and focuses on affordable housing, rental housing and real estate. He has worked on the model national urban rental housing policy for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, affordable housing as well as green building policy for the state of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is also part of various research on slum redevelopment, low-income rental housing, tenancy laws as well as private affordable housing markets in India.