JOIN USAccording to Puravankara Group’s CEO, Jackbastian Nazareth, townships will bring about phenomenal change in how people live in Bangalore, finds out Prashant G N.
Puravankara sees Bangalore’s city limits as well as its suburbs having high potential for development. The company is looking at various corridors in and around Bangalore and the eventual rise of townships, which generates heavy business.
How does Bangalore’s real estate market fare compared to other Indian cities? Bangalore’s real estate market is among the most robust and fastest growing, particularly in the South. It offers many employment opportunities to job seekers from across India; around 2,800 IT/ITes firms and about 60 percent of all biotech companies in India are estimated to have currently made this city their home.
The city is spreading out, particularly towards the new airport, unlike most other metros, which are seeing a vertical growth. The city is witnessing increasing connectivity that includes a new expressway connecting Hebbal to the new airport as well as the planned metro connectivity to the airport coming up from the city centre. The emergence of integrated townships is, perhaps, a big factor in upping the city’s real estate scenario.
How can the city overcome its limitations?
Infrastructure and economic growth can catalyse the growth of the real estate market here. This is partly because a big chunk of the action is happening in newer markets in the suburbs, particularly in and around the new airport.This growth will be fast if the government goes ahead with the identification and creation of smart cities around Bangalore.
What would the Bangalore market look like in the next decade?
Bangalore’s market is poised for huge growth. Most of the traditional markets, like the ones in Central Bangalore, are better developed and there is less land bank available there.
Now, with the Central Government announcing the concept of smart cities and indicating its willingness to set up the same along the planned Mumbai-Bangalore-Chennai industrial corridor, there is a good likelihood of satellite towns developing around Bangalore. With connectivity planned through mass transport, the connected areas and townships will see uniform growth.
It is important to note that mid-income housing will form a key component of the business plans of most real estate companies in the decade ahead. This segment will be a major driver of economic growth as we go forward.
We also foresee the growth of multiple super prime locations, which are areas of very high value, in Bangalore, just like in Mumbai and Delhi.
Which would you say are Puravankara’s best projects in Bangalore?
We believe each of our projects is unique. We plan and build each one of them based on the market reality as well as specific needs of our customers. We will continue our focus on the broad spectrum of realty development - from the affordable sector through Provident Housing, to the luxury segment through the Puravankara brand. Even as we expand to newer cities, Puravanakara keeps evolving itself to suit the needs of its buyers.
What has been the company’sinvestment in the Bangalore market so far? Are you happy with the returns?
In Bangalore, we have completed 17.48 million sq. ft. Our ongoing projects make up 15.98 million sq. ft. and we hold a land bank of 50.58 million sq. ft. We are, indeed, very happy with the returns, which is reflected in our current and future growth plans.
What, according to you, do today’s home buyers look for ?
Today’s buyers keenly scan realty projects to see how different and better they are from the rest. Among the things that our buyers look for are specifications, quality and amenities. More importantly, they expect timely delivery.
As a company, we make it a priority to update ourselves frequently on the needs of the buyers by means of constant research, and strive to be unique and a cut above the rest.