Mumbai’s real estate developers are definitely sporting bigger smiles now after a 2-3 year period in which they had to grapple with lower demand, rising affordability linked concerns and of course, overall industry impact brought about by demonetization, GST and RERA. Not only has the market started stabilizing and even recovering rapidly thanks to Government sops, lower GST rates and budgetary measures, Mumbai is set to witness a major infrastructure boom over the next few years. This will naturally lead to enhanced demand for real estate along several growth corridors in the city and developers are also happy about faster clearances for multiple projects in the infrastructure space. Developers in the city are of the opinion that the Supreme Court directive has paved the way for faster implementation of several big infrastructure ventures in Mumbai, namely the BVSL (Bandra-Versova Sea Link) and the Coastal Road. These projects are expected to usher in swift progress for Mumbai with regard to decongesting prime zones in the metropolis and also enhancing overall connectivity. Why developers are happy about Mumbai’s infrastructural growth Multiple infrastructure ventures are expected to scale up overall connectivity while decongesting important areas in the city.
- Experts feel that these infrastructure projects will majorly affect property prices in nearby areas and they may go up accordingly. They may also boost overall demand for office and commercial space in several localities of Mumbai.
- The new corridor will lead to better connectivity between Mumbai’s major CBD (commercial business district) and Mumbai’s suburbs. This will lower overall travelling time to only 12 minutes from a whopping 60 minutes and more at present.
- Due to better connectivity from the Mumbai suburbs, areas like Chembur, Andheri and Vile Parle, which are congested currently, may witness some much-needed decongestion and lower overall pressure on the Eastern and Western Express Highways.
- Developers and other experts feel that the 29.2 kilometre freeway or the Mumbai Coastal Road will lower overall traveling time by around 20 minutes. This freeway along the western coast of Mumbai will also lead to daily fuel consumption reducing by around 1/3rd as per reports courtesy vehicles accessing the highways. This will lower the overall carbon footprint by around 1,826 carbon dioxide tonnes annually.
- Homebuyers will soon get more options when they are seeking new homes and with upcoming metro corridors being built, they will be able to easily access almost every corner of Mumbai as per experts.
- The Goregaon-Mulund Link Road will also lower traveling time between Mulund and Goregaon during peak hours. This takes more than 2 hours and 15 minutes at present.
- There are multiple other projects initiated by the Government for enhancing overall connectivity for decongestion of prime areas, lowering travel times and making traveling more convenient.
- With the population of the city touching a whopping 22 million, there is always a need to expand into newer housing markets as opined by real estate developers.
- New infrastructure projects will provide more connectivity in this regard and will boost future growth prospects, particularly in terms of real estate projects in Mumbai suburbs since major roads and metro lines will ease out commutes.
Multiple new housing projects are coming up in several locations in and around Mumbai. Thane, in particular, is witnessing rapid development and will benefit in the future from several proposed connectivity initiatives and infrastructural projects. Multiple projects are also being developed here by top developers Some of these popular options in this regard include Lodha Amara, Rustomjee Urbania Azziano L Wing and Piramal Vaikunth Vairat among many others. Mumbai received an infrastructure bonanza sometime earlier The MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) previously announced a budgetary allocation of a whopping Rs. 16,909 crore which was the highest-ever such budget amount. Almost a whopping Rs. 7,486.50 crore or 44% was allocated for building and running 11 metro railway networks and also a centre in and around the city. Some of the key infrastructural projects cleared recently include the following:
- The metro corridor has been sanctioned between Badlapur and Kanjurmarg and also the metro line between the upcoming airport in Navi Mumbai and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) are already being made for these projects as per reports.
- The MTHL (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link) and Virar Multi-Modal Corridor were also cleared by the Government as part of its budget. The former will link Sewri to Nhava Sheva. 25% of work is expected to be finished on the sea-bridge by end-2019. Rs. 3,000 crore has been allocated for this project.
- 2,250 crore has been allocated for the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor and Rs. 150 crore has been allocated for the Mumbai monorail network.
- 1,895 crore and Rs. 1,921 crore have been allocated for the metro lines between Dahisar and DN Nagar and Dahisar East and Andheri East respectively.
- Two metro corridors, namely the lines between Swami Samarth Nagar and Vikhroli and Wadala-Thane-Kasarvadavli have been sanctioned with budgetary allocations of Rs. 800 crore and Rs. 1,337 crore respectively.
- 100 crore has been sanctioned for the development of a Metro Bhavan at Aarey.
- The Kanjurmarg-Badlapur metro route will cover 44.7 kilometres across an elevated corridor and this will be the 14th metro route in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
- Metro connectivity is also on the anvil for Thane, Navi Mumbai, Virar, Mira Bhayander and Bhiwandi.
With swift clearances being given for mega infrastructural projects in Mumbai, real estate developers are pleased with the future prospects to say the least. The next time you see a Mumbai realty player walking around with a broad smile on his/her face, you know why!
