Navi Mumbai, Noida airports spurring realty boom

Picture a mega infrastructure project that fuels a booming self-sustaining, round-the-clock, realty ecosystem around it. That is exactly what is happening with two of the biggest infrastructure projects of this decade: The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), and the Noida International Airport in western Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar. Both projects are leading to a real estate boom in their respective regions, which experts say could one day surpass the spurt seen in satellite cities like Noida and Gurugram.

However, the pace of development in both is starkly different, with real estate development around NMIA at a much more matured stage compared to that of Jewar.

Initially conceptualised in 1997, knowledge of NMIA has been megaphoned for over two decades. With two of the four phases of the project expected to be ready in the back half of 2024, areas enveloping the project site of Ulwe, such as Panvel and Nerul have had a generous timeframe to flourish across all realty segments.

“In the 2005-14 cycle properties were sold in the Navi Mumbai region on account of the airport narrative and people found favour in it,” explained Vivek Rathi, who heads research at property consultancy Knight Frank India.

In parallel, construction of connectivity infrastructure such the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, suburban rail network lines and the Virar-Alibaug Multi Modal Corridor have been underway for delivery around the same time as the airport starts operations.

On the other hand is the Noida International Airport, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Narendra Modi in November 2021. Described as disruptive development by property consultancy Collier’s Senior Director for valuation services Arvind Rai, the airport will be at a 40-plus kilometre distance from Greater Noida, and is set to be the country’s largest airport. But so far, only a handful of deals have been made on paper for development of the neighbouring region.

Talks are ongoing for establishment of a branch of the Roseate Hotel chain while the Lodha Group and Godrej Properties are eyeing land parcels in Jewar, a source informed DH on condition of anonymity.

Both the future airports are expected to take away the load from Delhi and Mumbai, currently India’s two busiest airports. The Indira Gandhi International Airport presently handles around 1,500 flights per day, while the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport handles close to 1,000 flights a day.

There is a fairly established affordable, middle and high income realty landscape in Navi Mumbai, also helped by the fact that its airport will be closer to Mumbai, Thane, etc, than the Noida airport will be to New Delhi, Gurgugram, Ghaziabad and Noida. “You may see some amount of property price increase on account of the next milestone of NMIA becoming operational,” noted Rathi.

Industry experts also expect the mid-premium and luxury real estate segments to take off in the area as operations commence at the airport sometime in 2025. “All builders are holding a few hundred acres each in terms of having developed and keeping land parcels in that area ready for development,” said Angad Bedi, Managing Director, BCD Group.

In contrast “What is going on around Jewar is mostly plotted development as well as the land has been cut out in smaller colonies,” Bedi added. It will be five to seven years before developers deploy a heavy quantum of capital for large scale residential and commercial projects, he stressed.

Remarkably, while there exists quality road connectivity to Jewar, plans for a mass rapid rail transportation system from Greater Noida to Jewar elude knowledge of industry stakeholders. Moreover, “most of the mega infrastructure projects that we see tend to overshoot their timeline,” pointed Ashim Chowdhury, Vice president of research at property consultancy Anarock.

“The indicator as of now that this area is going to thrive is the confidence that the authorities are having as we see them increasing the allotment prices of land,” he added. Land prices have risen by 30-35% in the latest price revision during the January-March quarter of 2023.

Bedi sees mushrooming of an unorganised sector in the form of kirana stores, small eateries and parking slots for cab services before a larger organised play comes into being, in a phased manner. “The organised sector has not seen the development announcements happening,” he reasoned.

Furthermore, “Noida currently has a significant amount of vacancy in commercial (office) real estate across all grades. So, getting new supply near the airport will probably take some time,” Chowdhury said.

Industry experts who spoke to DH unanimously agreed that while a niche market may develop in close proximity to the Noida airport on account of its requirements, ancillary activities and supporting logistics infrastructure such as the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, it will be a few years before the stretch extending from Greater Noida towards Jewar sees full scale development.