Infrastructure development is an important facet of a country’s growth. It is the factor that influences every other dimension of the country’s development; for example, the laying of roads, construction of bridges, flyovers, promotes the growth of industries, movement of goods and produces, generates employment opportunities and creates new industrial and residential belts in the city.
How does the infrastructure growth impact real estate?
Infrastructure growth has a great impact on real estate. When new & better infrastructure such as roads, bridges, flyovers, airports, bus terminals, metro stations are created, it opens up a whole new opportunity for economic growth as it attracts businesses and hence residential establishments who migrate there to explore the job market and better living conditions.
Let us discuss more on this with a classic example of the IT-corridor of the Chennai city, the old Mahabalipuram road(OMR) –
- OMR, the beautiful 45 km arterial road starting from Madhya Kailash temple in Adyar to Mahabalipuram in the Kanchipuram district, is commonly known as the IT corridor of the city. In 1960 the famous IIT Madras, was built in Guindy in the vast land of 600 acres of forest, closer to what can be called the starting point of today’s OMR. This can be viewed as a milestone in the development of this stretch. However the transformation began around the late 90s when IT establishments started to spurt here.
- Comprehending the scope for development along this stretch, the government focused on the development of infrastructure in this area, laying of roads and metro rail development. It also rolled out attractive policies to attract the IT firms here and this led to establishment of many SEZs (Special Economic Zones). Just naming a few of the many IT hubs that operate in these zones, the Tidel Park, Futura Tech Park, Acendas IT Park, SIPCOT IT Park and not to forget the numerous MNCs like TCS, CTS, Wipro, HCL, CapGemini that function in their massive & exclusive buildings. This IT corridor of the city generates about three-quarters of the state’s software exports.
- Infrastructure development and industrial growth go hand in hand and both in turn develop the social infrastructure of the locality, and the development of OMR is a testimony to this fact. The numerous IT hubs here offer employment for more than 3 lacs professionals and in the desire to stay close and connected to their place of work they slowly started to migrate here. To address the needs of people looking for quality homes in this region, leading real estate developers started to offer world-class residential properties that satiate the needs of the young professionals. Premium gated communities right from Sholinganallur to trendy apartments in Siruseri and its neighborhood are much sought after for their proximity to the IT companies and the quality of living these New-gen homes offer.
- The tremendous growth potential of this area witnessed the establishment of a self-sufficient social infrastructure consisting of reputed schools, colleges, medical centers, malls, multiplexes and other avenues of entertainment that offer the residents of this place a very amiable neighborhood for living. The presence of large parcels of land encouraged real estate developers to construct integrated townships along OMR, one that offers the residents every convenience and comfort they need. For example – houses for sale in Siruseri which are a part of such futuristic gated community offer residents facilities like gym, club house, indoor/outdoor game courts, departmental stores, roof top amenities and even talent development center for their children, fulfilling every need right within the safe confines of the apartment complex.
- This real estate development trend would continue for the foreseeable future as many infrastructure development plans are in the pipeline for the OMR stretch.
- The Phase 2 of the Chennai metro rail would extend from Madhavram to SIPCOT, and greatly improve the connectivity of this place.
- A 3-deck elevated corridor has been proposed, which would merge with the metro rail.
- The Chennai peripheral road project has put forth joining of four major national highways (NH5, NH205, NH4, NH45) and eight state highways, and this will facilitate seamless connectivity to other parts of the city and the country.
Where there is growth of infrastructure and industries, there is movement of people to that place in search of jobs and better quality of living. This inturn creates demand for residential spaces, and boosts the local real estate demand. The real estate development has been predicted to continue its upward trend and investments along OMR, investments here would fetch great rental income and ROI in the upcoming years.