Widening vistas of Vejalpur

GROUND REALITY

The real estate development activities in the Vejalpur area of Ahmedabad was initiated primarily by the Bakeri Group, one of the leading developers of the state, a few years back.

This has led to a major spurt in real estate activity in the area, which has seen the stretch between Makarba and Vejalpur bus stand grow rapidly. After the Bakeri group, many developers have started projects in the area, realising the huge potential.

"The cost of the land has almost doubled to around Rs 5,500 a square yard from around Rs 3,000 a square yard three years back, following the development initiatives by various builders apart from Bakeri Group. There is hardly any free land left for development now," said a builder.

Bakeri group has developed major town ships like Shree Nand Nagar, Shree Ram Nagar and tenements like Saket, amongst others. Apart from the Bakeri groups, various other builders have initiated projects including Shanti Nagar and Om Shanti Nagar.

The cost of a two-bed room flat in the area is between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 5.5 lakh depending upon the location and area of the flat. Mostly, two-bed room flats of around 100 square yards to 125 square yards are constructed in the area.

"Shri Nandnagar is promoted as a multi-cultural township reflecting the rich diversity of India, with more than 70 Bengali, 1,600 Gujarati, 178 Malayali, 32 Punjabi, 68 Tamil and 94 Marathi staying there," the builder said.

The Bakeri groups has sold almost all the flats in the first four Shri Nandnagar apartments and expects to complete the bookings of the Shri Nandnagar-five apartments by the end of this calendar year. Shri Nandnagar-five Apartments are expected to be completed by October this year, said the builder.

Each Shri Nandnagar apartment has around five to ten blocks of five floors each and each floor has four flats.

Apart from the Shri Nandnagar Township, Bakeri is also developing Saket Tenements where each flat will cost between Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 9 lakh. It is expected to be ready for possession by the end of this year.

The expenditure towards the electricity supply system including raising mains, Ahmedabad Electric Company cable cost, sub-station cost, is around Rs 30,000, which also includes the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority charges, fees, amenities fees, water and drainage charges, tree plantation and others charges.

Yearly maintenance charges of drainage and water supply are also payable to AUDA.However, the customers are also required to pay around Rs 30,000 extra for getting road-facing and corner apartments.

The builders in the area have tied up with various nationalised and private banks and financial institutions for arranging housing loans for their customers.

"The cost of flats in the Vejalpur area is much lower as compared to other developed areas of the city," said the developer of Om Shanti Nagar, where a two-bed room flat costs between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh.