Navi Mumbai has been developed as a planned city and a counter-magnet for Mumbai. It has been developed as an independent, fully self-contained metro city. Navi Mumbai has been planned and developed by City and Industrial Development Corp of Maharashtra (Cidco) to meet the infrastructure needs of a modern metropolis.
Cidco is a state public sector undertaking, registered under the Companies Act in March 1970. This body prepared the developmental plan for Navi Mumbai, covering 95 villages spread over 343.70 sq km. This plan was approved by the government of Maharashtra in August 1979. Many government and corporate offices were shifted from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. The chemical, pharmaceutical, engineering, textile processing, electronics, oil and oil processing, paper, plastic, steel and food industries in Taloja and the IT units and special economic zones in the Thane-Belapur industrial belt of Navi Mumbai all offer vast job opportunities. As a result, a large segment of the service class and mid-income segment people now reside in Navi Mumbai.
Over the last few years, the real estate market in Navi Mumbai has shown impressive growth, largely because of the planned approach taken towards development. Apart from the already developed areas, nodes like Kalamboli, Kamothe, Airoli, Ghansoli are also seeing a lot of residential developments.
Most of Vashi, Sanpada and Nerul are inhabited, and residential property rates in these areas are high. They are in the northern part of Navi Mumbai, which is closer to Mumbai when compared to the southern part. However, after the announcement of state-level developments and infrastructure projects like Navi Mumbai SEZ, Kalamboli SEZ and the Nhava-Sheva Sealink (most of which are planned towards the southern part of Navi Mumbai), overall residential pricing in Navi Mumbai has experienced remarkable appreciation since 2004. New residents in Navi Mumbai are opting for better options in areas like Kharghar, Koparkhairne, Airoli, Ghansoli, Seawoods, Kamothe, Kalamboli and Panvel.
Of these, Kalamboli has emerged as a strong contender today, thanks largely to its locational advantages. Kalamboli is situated on the Mumbai-Panvel road, strategically close to the Taloja industrial area. Simultaneously, it benefits from being on the Mumbai-Pune highway as well. Though a relatively late entrant, Kalamboli is by no means a new area, so there are no concerns about the pace of development. It is already a bustling area, self-contained in terms of job creation and servicing the local public. Geographically, Kalamboli is 0.25 km from Taloja Industrial Estate, 0.5 km away from the Mumbai-Pune highway and six km from the proposed international airport.
The writer is CEO-residential services, Jones Lang LaSalle India
