Panvel is fast emerging as a major real estate hub in Mumbai and it has great potential for future growth, mostly due to the slew of infrastructural developments set to take place in this region. Recently, while inaugurating the Nerul- Uran railway line in November 2019, the former Chief Minister, Mr. Devendra Fadnavis, had commented, that Panvel will soon become the next important terminus like Dadar or CSMT. Panvel is located near the periphery of Navi Mumbai and is turning into a new growth center in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The Mumbai Trans Harbor Link, Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus- Panvel fast corridor, are some of the key infrastructural projects which will soon come up. For these projects, over INR 56,000 crore is being spent and they will connect the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the City and the Industrial Development Corporation and the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation.
Navi Mumbai Airport set to transform Panvel and surrounding areas
However, the New Navi Mumbai International Airport is the largest project of all. CIDCO officials have said that the first phase of the new airport, which is over 2000 hectares in area, has been completed in December 2019 and a terminal building and runway have been included. The total cost of the project is about INR 16,450 crore and as much as 65% land work will be completed by January.
Naturally, the airport has created the need for other transportation infrastructure and a train station will also come up in the vicinity. This is to be at Targhar, which will be situated on the newly inaugurated Phase I of the Nerul- Uran line. The proposed elevated fast- corridor between CSMT and Panvel has also been planned. It is a part of the magnum opus INR 54, 777 crore initiative under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3A and that received State government sanctions earlier in the month.
The Targhar station will soon attain completion and it will provide seamless connectivity to the Harbor Line from the airport and the fast corridor. Also, the fast corridor is going to be built along Metro standards and it will also have a connection to the Metro network which is being developed at Madala in Mankhurd, by the MMRDA. CSMT and NMIA will be connected by Metro Line 8 which will also connect with the fast corridor at Mankhurd, and a detailed project report is under preparation. Panvel also happens to be situated at the junction of roads which connects Mumbai, Pune and Goa and is an important point at the Konkan Railway route. While the CSMT- Panvel fast corridor still awaits approval, the Karjat- Panvel corridor, which falls under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3, has already been sanctioned and work has started on the same.
According to the Executive Director, (Planning), MRVC, Sanjay Singh, this line will have huge potential because of its ability to connect Karjat and Panvel, along the old Mumbai- Pune highway by rail. On completion, this route will be connecting Panvel, along with its adjoining regions, to Pune by rail via Karjat. With these combined projects, the travel time between Karjat, CSMT and adjoining areas will be markedly reduced.
With all the developments currently happening in the region, it seems that this is the best time to invest in Panvel and it is becoming a haven for real estate developers. Panvel is at present backed by sound and well- planned physical infrastructure and it is also becoming an alternative to many higher priced areas of Mumbai, where prices have risen hugely over the last few years. Through the Sion- Panvel Highway, the region is now well connected to major areas like MMR, the Mumbai suburban railway and the NH 66 and NH 48. The upcoming projects are the ones driving the real estate boom in recent times.
Why Panvel is at the epicenter of future growth
Proximity to major commercial areas like Navi Mumbai, Airoli and Taloja is also helping the cause of real estate growth in Panvel. Since 2013, 28,480 units had been launched in Panvel which is a handsome figure indeed. The NMIA construction is also slated to begin shortly. However, land acquisition issues had delayed the project from time to time but since 2017, the projects had been going on in full swing.
Panvel has also recently seen a huge boost in the real estate sector as many new developers are entering the market with township projects and lucrative offers. A huge change has come over the city in the last five years and the airport coming up in the vicinity is the biggest of them. The connectivity which Panvel is enjoying with Uran and JNPT is also increasing the demand in this region. Some of the projects have been partially commissioned and some have been proposed and in total, a big sum has been invested in the city, along with Mumbai and Raigad. The prices of real estate have doubled in the last five years and the projects that started with a rate of INR 3,500 per q. ft. are currently priced at INR 6500 per sq feet.
Moreover, a lot of open land is still available in Panvel and affordable housing projects are coming up here. Once the airport becomes operational, this will lead to employment of one lakh people at least and the demand for residential as well as commercial spaces will also increase likewise. The current trends indicate that the upcoming infra projects in Panvel will result in a growth of 12 to 15% in prices in the next four to five years. In 2013, the prices around Panvel were about INR 4,530 per sq feet and that has increased to INR 5,400 sq feet at present.
The real estate scenario in Mumbai and MMRR at present is presently seeing a shift and that is mainly due to the reforms that were launched one after another after the implementation of the RERA 2016 ad the GST. Other reforms were pertaining to Insolvency Bankruptcy Code among others. With the RERA, the real estate sector received the much needed transparency and the developers are now more accountable with the buyer’s money. All of this has resulted in increasing the confidence of the home buyer not just in Mumbai and MMR but also in the entire country. These changes in consumer protection had made property dealing fairer and has also resulted the hassle associated with buying a property.
It can be said that the emerging focal points of the future of real estate market is also changing and suburb locations like Powai, Andheri and Thane are also becoming happening spots for real estate. In Navi Mumbai, the areas like Panvel and NAINA are already turning into center points for the future. Apart from the above mentioned Harbor Link, Metro, Airport and the CSMT- Panvel fast lane railway linkage, various other freeways, expressway and waterways are also being developed. All of these will greatly enhance the commute of daily passengers. The new RORO all- weather craft connectivity will extend to South Mumbai and across the Harbor to Alibaug. It will result in a new business and socio- cultural hub in South Mumbai. Affordable Housing is of course, the most in demand. In luxury real estate destination like Powai, the demand is high for luxury boutique homes which are unique and compact in size. In Thane, the Studio Apartments and the 1 BHK units are the most in demand in the below INR 1 crore segment.
In Thane, the real economic growth driver is in the form of retail and commercial realty and this has made the city more attractive to investors. Mumbai’s BFSI and IT sector has also relocated and Thane is the Global City within the MMR. It has received a comprehensive makeover and has been backed by a series of infrastructural opportunities, which will bring new scope of growth and improve the local economy. Thane happens to be a prime spot for home buyers and it is topping the charts for retail, commercial and residential spaces. It will offer the right mix of socio and civic infrastructure and also has all the plush amenities which a new age family would desire.
Panvel, being located most conveniently in the Mumbai- Pune IT corridor, is a hot destination for office location as many Indian MNCs, BFSI, IT and ITeS companies are located here. Panvel is also coming up with residential options and they are providing ideal homes for aspiration based lifestyle. Hence, Panvel has now emerged as a prime spot in the MMR and the capital value appreciation here as well as rental income is increasing at regular intervals. Mumbai will also continue to grow across new locations and with the new regulations in place, home buyers are also becoming more confident about their purchase.
Major ventures afoot in Panvel
New players are also entering the market with new things to look forward to. The Hiranandani Group has made its debut in the data center parks and their new venture is the YOTTA Infrastructure. The first hyperscale data center is also expected to go live in December in Panvel and will see an investment of INR 1000 crore. There are talks of five data centers in all and the first of them has gone live in December 2019 in the Hiranandani Fortune City Township in Panvel and will be followed by Chennai and Mumbai.
These data center parks will be spreading over 50 acres and they will have major international fiber landing stations with a server hall capacity of 60,000 racks and 500 MW power. These will open up new opportunities for the smart cities mission by the government and the company will further evaluate this matter in time. The company wants to take forward the Digital India Program of the central government and attain the vision of the $5 trillion economy by 2025. A huge opportunity is to be seen with data localization and a protection act which is to be soon announced by the government is going to regulate data management business. It is believed that this will provide a great opportunity for the data management business to grow in the domestic market and Panvel could very well become the hub of it. YOTTA Infrastructure is going to be managed by Data Center Service provider and they will be responsible for designing, building and also operating large scale hyperdensity 11 Uptime Institute Certified Tier 4 Data Centers.
The first phase of the operation will be commencing at Hiranandani projects in Mumbai, Panvel and Chennai and the company will also be offering hyper- density, hyper scalable data centers with co- location solutions and they will also come up with a wide range of supporting managed IT, hybrid multi-cloud and security services.
The Wadhwa Group is also planning to invest INR 2200 crore in the first two phases of the integrated township project, the Wadhwa Wise City, which is going to be spread over 450 acres in Panvel. GFH, the Bahrain based financial investment group and the developer are also going to jointly develop the township which will be the first of its kind in Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area. The 450 acres of the project are going to be developed in five phases with a total investment of INR 6000 crores in the next 10 to 12 years.
It is expected by the developers that the revenues collected from these two projects will be around INR 3200 crore and out of the total land holding of 450 acres, the Wadhwa Group is planning to develop 138 acres which will have 10 million sq feet of overall development. Out of the total development plan which has been proposed, the company will also be launching apartments, bungalows and other projects over 40 acres during the second phase. In the first phase of the project, the company has already sold 1500 units.
The project has been planned in different phases and will be completed in a span of five to seven years. Several other infrastructural projects are slated to come up here and they will comprise of IT parks, retail malls, hospitals, schools and more. Offices and IT Parks are already being developed over 14 acres.
