The Northern Peripheral Road area is a good option for those looking for alternatives beyond Noida,
There is one city which might gain from the Noida Extension problem as farmers challenge the acquisition of about 3,000 acres of land spread across nearly a dozen villages of Noida and Greater Noida. Both developers and investors in the affected pockets view Gurgaon as a viable alternative option.
Several developers in Noida who had been planning to expand to other parts of NCR had been waiting for the right opportunity to make a move.
Many who have already bought land have now decided to launch projects in Gurgaon.
The Haryana city is also an attractive destination for private equity funds looking to park funds in real estate development projects. In fact, the next couple of months will be attractive from a real estate-private equity perspective because the salesabsorption patterns continue to be robust for the area.
The Northern Peripheral Road (NPR), which will connect the international airport via Dwarka to National Highway 8, is the most attractive alternative for developers coming from outside Gurgaon because of the availability of approved projects and decent valuations.
The expected price movement forecast after completion of the road (within the next 12-18 months) is also good. Developers moving from Noida will be targeting an average sales realisation of R4,000 per sq ft. Prices are also likely to increase by R800 to 1,000 per sq ft in roughly a year, points out Anckur Srivasttava of GenReal Advisors.
The base price is always higher in Gurgaon when compared to Noida. A Noida project launch can be priced at anything between R3,000 to R3,500 per sq ft, but something similar in Gurgaon would cost nothing less than R4,000 per sq ft -a difference of almost 15%. The only area where launches are possible in this range is the NPR.
Gurgaon, say the developers, had been on their expansion radar and the situation developing in Noida acted as a catalyst. Earth Infrastructure Ltd has launched a project called Earth Copia in Sector 112, Gurgaon.
“We have already received our license and will be submitting our building plans to HUDA (Haryana Urban Development Authority) soon. This is our first foray into Gurgaon. We acquired land in October last year and it was a conscious decision to spread to other parts of NCR.
We are also looking at launching something in Faridabad in the next three to six months. The situation in Noida has shaken the confidence of investors and builders alike and it may be difficult for builders to launch any new projects in Noida before confidence is restored and an amicable solution found,“ says Vikas Gupta, director of the group.
The ATS group that is currently developing over 12 million sq ft of group housing projects in Noida, Indirapuram and a large township of approximately 300 acres in Derabassi, near Chandigarh, announced its foray into Gurgaon last week.
The group has acquired two land parcels in Gurgaon 12.2 acres in sector 109 and 10.5 acres in sector 104 for R400 crore. Both these parcels are along the NPR.
“The company is open to more investments in Gurgaon and is in the lookout for appropriate land parcels in the region,“ says Getamber Anand, managing director, ATS Group.
The Logix Group also has plans to expand. “We were looking at other areas in the NCR. Our focus is on Noida and Ghaziabad but we will expand wherever we get an opportunity“, says Shaktinath, CMD Logix Group.
Assotech Ltd, another Noida-based group, also “has plans to launch a group housing project at the end of this year in Gurgaon, though we will be launching a new township soon in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
