While two-thirds of India’s population is under 35, the country’s senior population is rapidly growing: By 2050, India will be home to more than 300 million senior citizens. Mohit Nirula, CEO of Columbia Pacific Communities, believes the country currently has insufficient infrastructure to support its aged population. Traditional Indian culture mandates that children take care of their parents in their golden years, bringing them home to live with them.

But globalization has changed cultural norms. “Children are going where their career takes them,” Nirula told India-West, noting India’s rapidly developing economy and opportunities for Indians abroad. “Children are happy to be achieving success, and even more happy than them and taking more pride are their parents,” he said.

Columbia Pacific Communities, conceptualized by Daniel Baty, founder of the Seattle, Washington-based Columbia Pacific Group, one of the foremost developers of senior living communities in the U.S., is attempting to mitigate the isolation and loneliness many Indian seniors are facing. The company has built assisted living facilities in five cities in South India and has set its sights on Kolkata and Pune.

CPC is India’s largest provider of senior living facilities. In Bengaluru, the company has one existing facility, and another is under construction and open for early buy-in. A third facility in Bengaluru will be launched this fall.

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