Low price points, good connectivity

Hotspot: Manesar, Haryana

Manesar is a rapidly growing industrial town in Haryana's Gurgaon district and is also a part of the National Capital Region. Once considered a distant and sleepy village, Manesar has transformed into one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the country. Proximity to the political nerve centre, Delhi, has worked in favour of this micro market, with the government establishing several headquarters and institutes of national importance, such as the National Security Guards and National Brain Research Centre.

Strategically located on NH 8, Manesar is well-connected with Delhi, Dharuhera, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, which also leads to Mumbai. Manesar is only 32 km away from the Delhi international airport and has one of the best urban infrastructures in northern India. Planned as a modern township, it has a blend of residential and commercial asset classes, with many industries, factories, offices, hotels and educational institutes. Being considered an extension of Gurgaon, the area has been earmarked for development under the Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex Master Plan-2031.

Being an industrial township, Manesar has workforce of around 100,000 people flocking from the adjoining areas every day. According to the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan, this rapidly-growing industrial centre will have a population of 3.7 million by 2021.

While remaining a peripheral commercial destination, Manesar has not seen too many residential launches. However, it is right within the residential corridor designated as New Gurgaon, primary hub of new residential launches and frenetic construction activity across projects in the Gurgaon housing market. The supply of residential projects in Manesar is limited, with a very few reputed developers offering quality housing, such as DLF, ABW and Anant Raj. The DLF and Anant Raj projects are nearing completion and in terms of pricing are at a discount of 20-25 per cent to the average in the New Gurgaon corridor.

The area of Manesar has a distinct industrial character and, hence, only limited land is under residential development. There definitely is scope for more housing projects in this location, especially in the affordable category, given the employees working across the industries here.

As of date, buyers and investors have more choices in the New Gurgaon corridor, largely spread across sectors 76 to 95, with options across high-rise and low-rise apartments, plots, villas, etc. However, Manesar offers lower price points. Further launches here would likely be in the price range of Rs 4,500-5,000 a sq ft, making it slightly less expensive while offering nearly the same benefits of connectivity through NH-8, upcoming enhanced connectivity through the KMP (Kundli-Manesar- Palwal) Expressway and Dwarka Expressway, and the proposed metro rail extension of the Delhi-Gurgaon line all the way till Manesar.

The author is CEO - Operations & International Director, JLL India