Focus Shifts Southward In Delhi

Discerning buyers, comprising top Indian corporate houses and multi-national corporations and their executives, have led to the increasing demand for land.

This serves two purposes -- first, it is a means of holding on to the employees and second, it leads to asset building, says Colonel Prithvi Nath, advisor business promotion, DLF Universal Ltd.

There is marked southward shift in real estate development in Delhi -- towards the foothills of the Aravallis. And this is the main theme behind DLF group's plans for developing areas south of Delhi.

Corporates in need of quality office space have discarded Delhi and now only retailers will have their outlets within central Delhi, feels Nath.

 

This has led to stabilisation of real estate prices within Delhi, whereas in areas surrounding Delhi, the prices are on the rise.

There will be seven major locations in a 30km concentric ring around Delhi. Besides central Delhi, this includes Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Kundli and Bahadurgarh.

These will be in the form of dormitory townships from where people will come to New Delhi to work, Nath says.

The `walk to work' concept is the driving force behind the development of real estate in such areas.

The DLF group has spearheaded the concept with DLF Qutab Enclave, a 2500-acre complex, one of the largest private sector complexes in South Asia.

Qutab Enclave is a mix of high and low-rise buildings which has single as well as multi-storeyed houses and group housing. This includes `Casa Royale', an exclusive apartment block and `Plaza Towers', a corporate centre designed to give industrial houses the ability to plan their office space requirements.

The area has green offices for corporates with three-layer parking.

The main condominium will have a 15/16 acres park which will act as the lungs of the complex.

The average price of the land is Rs 6,000 per square foot as compared to Rs 17,000 per sq foot in central Delhi.

By providing services for all-round management of property, the complex plans to have its own 100 per cent backup for power supply, maintain roads in and around the area by levying external development charges, and a 70 km channel through which water supply will be maintained.

Communication within the area will be based on state-of-the-art optic fibre cables.

In the next phase of project `Galleria', a 3.77 acre landscaped area will be constructed to fulfill the demand for shopping cum commercial complexes.

The complex will comprise two levels of shopping and a multi-storeyed office tower.

Also on the anvil is a 18-hole golf course being designed in collaboration with the Palmer Course Co of the US.

The group also provides long-term payment facilities to corporates and individuals planning to move into the area, by securitisation of properties.

It has started its own lease and rental division for properties and trains real estate brokers to facilitate property deals.

The favourable response to the Qutab Enclave experience will be replicated elsewhere, Nath says. The group is working on plans to develop other such complexes too.

Corporates in need of quality office space have discarded Delhi and now only retailers have their outlets in central Delhi. This has led to stabilisation of real estate prices within the capital