At 65, Harshad Barot has much to celebrate — a remarkable entrepreneurial journey, a thriving family business and a legacy built over more than three decades in Uganda.
As he marks his birthday today, September 17, the Indian-born businessman can look back on a journey that started modestly in 1993 but has grown into one of Uganda’s notable property and investment stories.
When Barot arrived in Uganda, he did not have a blueprint for building a property empire. He started as a door-to-door hawker, selling household items and learning the market one customer at a time.
That experience would later prove valuable as he transitioned from trading goods to investing in property, gaining a first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by small traders and entrepreneurs.
In 2006, he established Tirupati Development (U) Limited, marking a more structured phase of his investment journey. The company went on to develop commercial and residential properties, with an emphasis on creating spaces where businesses and households could establish themselves.
One of the early landmarks was Ovino Market in Kisenyi, which brought hundreds of businesses into an organised commercial environment, giving small and medium enterprises space to operate, grow, create jobs and participate in the formal economy.
This became an important feature of the Tirupati approach: building not simply for businesses, but around businesses.
Across its commercial developments, entrepreneurs have found spaces to sell goods, provide services, manufacture products, store merchandise and employ workers. The Tirupati Business Park in Kyebando, for example, combines offices, warehouses and manufacturing spaces, offering smaller businesses ready-to-use premises without the heavy upfront cost of acquiring land and constructing facilities.
Over the years, the portfolio has expanded to include shopping malls, apartments, office complexes, warehouses and business parks, including Mazima Shopping Mall, Tirupati Towers, Tirupati Bukoto Shopping Mall, Tirupati New Mazima, Tirupati Half London, Bugolobi Executive Apartments and Nkumba University Hostel.
But perhaps the most significant chapter of Barot’s journey is now being written within his own family.
To ensure continuity of the business he has built, Barot has mentored the next generation, with his children Miraj Barot, Kruti Barot and Juhi Barot taking on key roles in the day-to-day running of the multimillion-dollar enterprise.
So, as Harshad Barot celebrates 65, the occasion is about more than marking another year. It is a celebration of a life of enterprise, the people who have shared the journey and a family legacy that continues to take shape.
From a door-to-door trader in 1993 to the chairman of Tirupati Group, Barot’s birthday offers a moment to celebrate how far the journey has come — and the chapters still ahead.
