AREA
WATCH: BAHADURGARH
Down but not out
This industrial and knowledge hub with an
affordable price tag can be the perfect entry point for homebuyers with limited
budget but longer investment goals
Geetu
Vaid
With
stagnant prices, delayed projects, slow sales and reluctant buyers the realty
outlook for several lesser known micro markets of NCR has not been very
positive over the past couple of years. So while in spite of a slowdown and
delayed projects Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway, New Gurgaon, Sohna etc have
managed to remain on the buyers’ radar, others like Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi,
Manesar have failed to live up to their potential.
Apart
from buyer scepticism and investor apathy these micromarkets have also seen
poor infrastructure growth. Bahadurgarh is one such NCR town that has seen
sales plummeting over the past two years with real estate agents virtually
writing it off as a “prudent” investment option. Primarily an industrial hub,
Bahadurgarh has the usual pain points of any industrial city. “The pace
of infrastructure growth has been slow and the town has poor civic amenities,
which is a big put off for an odd buyer who comes scouting for this area”, says
Somnath Dhaiya, who deals with properties in the NCR region. But in spite of
its poor report card, market watchers claim that investing in a home in
Bahadurgarh will not be a bad bargain in the long run.
Firstly,
it is one of the more affordable areas in the NCR at the moment with prices
ranging between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,200 per sq ft. A 1,150 sq ft to 1,600 sq ft
two or three BHK here is available in the price bracket of Rs 30 to Rs 50 lakh.
Along with this the presence of developers like Tata Value Homes, Omaxe, KLJ
Developers etc takes care of the quality of construction here. Thus, industry
mavens maintain that it is a good investment for those with limited funds and a
longer investment window.
There
are a number of factors that will ensure growth of residential segment in this
town over the next five years. “Situated in close proximity to both Gurgaon and
New Delhi, Bahadurgarh has the potential of being the hub for the value and
affordable housing segment in the NCR area. Its proximity to prime residential
areas like Pitampura, Rohini, Janak Puri, Punjabi Bagh, Dwarka will establish
Bahadurgarh as a major residential location in NCR”, says Brotin Banerjee, MD
& CEO, Tata Housing Development Company. The group has an affordable homes
project New Haven under construction in Bahadurgarh.
Key
market drivers
The
city is shedding its old skin with improved prospects in connectivity and
infrastructure. It will be developed for a population of 4.84 lakh by 2031
AD.
Connectivity
is a major factor for homebuyers, especially in the NCR. Bahadurgarh is 30 km from
Delhi, but with the work on Metro line connecting it with Delhi areas
likely to be completed by December end this year, commuting will
not be cumbersome. In fact, Bahadurgarh will be the fourth town in the NCR to
be connected to Delhi through Metro after the completion of metro line to
Mundka. The commuting time on this stretch will be 20 minutes and it will take
slightly more than an hour to travel from Bahadurgarh to Connaught Place. The
city is connected to Gurgaon via the NH-10 and also through the
Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway. This expressway, which intersects NH-1,
NH-8 and NH-2, and NH-10 near Bahadurgarh, was delayed by more than five years
which had lowered the real estate prices in Bahadurgarh. But the January 2015
Supreme Court ruling had put things on a fast track. The expressway is set to
be the single major catalyst of residential and commercial development in this
region.
The
presence of a large number of industries and educational institutions are the
other favourable factors for housing demand in the city. There are around 500
footwear units in Bahadurgarh contributing around one-third of the net turnover
of the city. Apart from this; there are iron and steel fabrication, plastic
industry, rubber industry, machinery fabrication, auto components, wires and
cable manufacturing industry, pharma, sanitary, ceramics, medical equipment
manufacturing industry too.
Bahadurgarh
is also considered a knowledge hub due to presence of a number of government
and private colleges and institutions. In addition, it is also developing as a
major healthcare and medical facility node with the foundation stone of
Maharaja Agrasen Medical University being laid by the Chief Minister of Haryana
in August, 2015 and AIIMS, Jhajjar already in advanced stages of
planning.
Planned
urban growth
The
quality of life will also be good in Bahadurgarh as it is moving towards
planned urban growth. It is among 38 cities in the Northern region that have
been selected under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT).
The
Haryana Government’s Final Development Plan-2031 AD for Bahadurgarh lays down
the criterion for planned development of the city. For example, Sector 16 of
Bahadurgarh has been developed as a general-purpose industrial area, Sector 17
as a Footwear Park. Currently sectors 2, 6, 7 , 9 , 9A are developed and
sectors 1, 10, 11 and 13 are under development as residential sectors. The rest
of projected population would be accommodated in residential sectors i.e. 1, 2,
3, 3A, 3B, 4A, 5 part, 6, 7 part, 9 part, 9A, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19 part, 20
part, 23 part, 24 part, 25, 26, 27 part, 28, 28A, 29, 35 part, 36 part and
37.
With a detailed development plan in place and better
connectivity and industrial growth and availability of affordable and good
quality housing, realty scene here will not be under the cloud of
slowdown for long.