The Hindu Business Line : The good life, within reach

For most urban dwellers of today, life is one protracted battle against time. Long commutes through monstrous traffic are the order of the day, not to mention a daily brush with crowds, congestion and utility services that moan and groan under the burgeoning population weight. Living in serene surroundings was what you did when you took a holiday to some exotic, far-from-the-madding-crowd destination.

City concept

In circumstances where only the chosen few could dare dream of the simple pleasures of life, the time had obviously come to create the concept of a city that would offer more. Where, one could not only live amidst pleasant surroundings, but walk to the work place, school, shop, health club and the multiplex for a late night show. And if you still had the energy and the inclination, perhaps swing a golf club, take a dip in the pool or even work up a sizeable sweat with a spirited racquet game. The first of such self-contained complexes – townships or cities in present day parlance – to get off the ground anywhere in the country was probably the Magarpatta city at Hadapsar, Pune. Launched in 1999, the 430-acre expanse developed by the very farmers who owned the land has now emerged as a coveted address and a well-known destination for several IT companies. While that is no mean achievement in itself, more importantly, it prepared the ground and became the model for the formulation of a new, ‘Special township’ policy by the Maharashtra Government that was notified in November 2005.

Emerald isle

With 6,500 dwellings, office space, commercial complex, school, hospital, restaurants, large open spaces, parks, swaying palms and an artificial lake, Magarpatta is an emerald isle that virtually insulates its residents from the chaos that prevails outside. An army of 400 people keeps the place in tip-top condition. The project is 80 per cent complete and will be fully operational by 2009.

Mr Satish Magar, Chairman and Managing Director of Magarpatta, and the brain behind the venture says, “It is such a joy to see children walking peacefully to school every morning.” The reference obviously to a common sight on Pune’s streets: children packed in rickshaws, school bags literally spilling out, making their way to schools many kilometres away.

The township policy that followed in its wake laid down some stipulations. Amongst the pre-requisites for a project to be granted township status, the land notified has to be a continuous, unbroken and uninterrupted stretch, not less than 100 acres (excluding forest, river, creek canal, reservoir, tribal lands etc.,) in area. Also that the developers must necessarily provide for residential, commercial, educational, amenity spaces, health facilities, parks, gardens and play grounds in at least 20 per cent of the area, and public utilities. It also calls for a tree density of at least 150 to be planted per hectare.

Concessions

In order to promote the concept, the policy offers several concessions too. These include stamp duty, that is 50 per cent of the prevailing rates of the Mumbai Stamp Act, relaxation of the condition that only agriculturists will be eligible to buy agriculture land and exemption from the purview of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976. Besides, it allows a floor space index (FSI) of one and provides for floating FSI by which unused FSI of one plot can be used anywhere in the whole township.

bandwagon

With the special township policy giving impetus to the idea of developing such fully integrated cities, several well-known real estate developers have jumped on to the township bandwagon. While around 15 proposals, including two more from the Magarpatta group, are believed to be pending approval, the first two to be cleared are the Blue Ridge project of the Paranjape Group and the Amanora Town from City Corporation Ltd.

Located in the gram panchayat area near Hadapsar, Amanora is a 400-acre project (that can be expanded to 600 acres) being developed by City Corporation Ltd and involves an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. Work has begun and in the next five years, a total of 15,000 residential houses will be constructed.

Salient features

Elaborating on the highlights of this township, where the current going rate is between Rs 2,800-4,000 per sq ft, Mr J K Bhosale, COO, City Corporation Ltd, says, “We plan to buy electricity in bulk from the State board and distribute it ourselves. This will reduce distribution losses and ensure reliable supply. We also plan to generate electricity from garbage.” The only other township project in Pune division to have got sanction at the moment is Blue Ridge Truly being built at the IT-hub of Hinjewadi by Flagship Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (FIPL), a venture of Paranjape Schemes Construction Ltd (PSCL). The 138-acre project will have homes, malls, multiplexes, a 250-room hotel, service apartments and a 30-acre SEZ. In the first phase, 1,200 residential units ranging from 1121-3112 sq ft are being constructed, with the going rate of Rs 3,200-3,800 per sq ft. The recreational facilities on offer include a golf course, spa and fitness club, squash, tennis and badminton courts.

With the township ball set in motion, several other projects around Pune are waiting in the wings for the cue to get going. Mr Shashank Paranjape, Managing Director, PSCL, discloses that they propose to launch a 140-acre township near Bhugaon and other projects in Nashik and Kolhapur in near future.

Magarpatta is awaiting the green signal for ‘Nanded’, a township on Sinhagad Road and Riverview, near Loni on Solapur Road. DSK is building residential homes in an SEZ at Phursungi.

Clearly, the ‘good life within reach’ party is about to begin.

More Stories on : Real Estate & Construction | Maharashtra

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page