The Caregiver: Tara Singh Vachani

She’s not just leading a company; Tara Singh Vachani, the visionary behind Antara Senior Care, is scripting a new chapter in India’s social fabric: one where senior citizens are celebrated, cared for, and empowered to thrive.

Instead of joining the family business after studies, Vachani chose a different journey – she decided to build from scratch in the senior living space – a business model which was not very common in India when she conceptualized and founded Antara Senior Care in 2010.

Fast forward to 2026, she is still passionate and excited about the opportunities in the sector. But when she started it was a difficult decision, “We knew in theory all the challenges we would face, but we didn’t know how challenging it would actually be. For seven years, we committed our lives to perfecting just one community. Now, people see opportunity in senior care living and have started to embrace it,” said vachani, executive chairperson of Antara Senior Care.

She has diversified the business into three verticals: Residences for Seniors (independent living), Antara Assisted Care and AGEasy (health and wellness products).

“We now have 485 beds across NCR, Chennai, and Bangalore. In assisted living, we’re differentiating on clinical outcomes, best-in-class processes, and facilitating recovery. It is almost like giving people an option of care that they have not been used to. The hypothesis in 2019 was that not everyone would buy into senior living—due to affordability, age, proximity to family, or care needs. Assisted living became a rental, urban, care-intensive model. In 2023, we launched AGEasy, our D2C platform for products,” she said.

Talking about expansion, Vachani wants to be in the product space where she and her team have expertise.

“We are currently present in the premium space in terms of residential community, and we will continue to do so, in the next five years. We still do not have expertise to be in Tier III towns and beyond, where cost is a major factor. However, once we have the capabilities of bringing the best quality practices in a lower cost range, we will look at the different spectrums,” she explained.

“While we have become far more thoughtful about who our customer is and where demand truly lies, one thing has remained non-negotiable. We will not compromise on quality, intent, or the standards we hold ourselves to. We know what we do well, and we remain committed to delivering that level of experience consistently,” she affirmed.

There is demand for every kind of product in India, across segments and price points, and senior care is no different. Vachani is confident that opportunity exists in many shapes and forms. That said, she is conscious of the company’s strengths.

Talking about government and policy support, she emphasized that in senior living, clearer categorisation within urban planning and land-use policies would be very helpful. “Today, senior living developments often compete directly with mainstream residential projects and are governed by the same design norms. If senior living were more clearly recognised as a distinct category—with planning and design guidelines that reflect how seniors actually live—it would go a long way in making these projects more efficient and sustainable.”

When asked how she still feels passionate about Antara, she was quick. “Out of the 350 million senior citizens in India, even if you look at just 1 per cent,  it’s about 3.5 million seniors—who might be able to afford organised senior living and live in Tier 1 cities, who is going to care for them? I alone cannot build 1.5 million senior living units in the next 20 years. So, I urge people to come and step into the industry and to do something collectively for the elderly.”