New Delhi, November 13, 2016: After having been a lackluster sector for some time, real estate has regained its momentum, thanks to some favourable announcements made by the Indian finance minister in Budget 2016. To avail of tax breaks under Section 24, the deadline for construction completion was extended from three years to five years. Secondly, an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 under Section 80EE was announced for increasing the tax benefits on purchasing a home on loan. The government’s Smart City push has also given real-estate investors a reason to cheer.
While the real-estate sector across renowned cities in India will undoubtedly benefit from such positive measures, there are a few smart cities that are likely to see a boost in the market. These cities may not be popular in the market today, but are expected to develop significantly due to infrastructure, market viability, sustainable real estate, and good overall infrastructure. Moreover, these cities will be ideal for end users who have a limited budget, and will prove excellent investments due to potential capital appreciation.
Let’s take a look at six such smart cities:
l Bhubaneswar and Cuttack
Both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are booming cities in the IT and education sectors. This has given a boost to their real-estate markets. Moreover, because a significant share of available land in the two cities belongs to the government, the real-estate market is well regulated. Most of the new developments are taking place in the north and south-west of Bhubaneswar, and that too in the form of stand-alone or duplex properties.
l Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam, as we all know, scores high in Andhra Pradesh for its area and population. It is home to one of the largest ports in India, which makes it the center of commercial activities in the state.
Visakhapatnam also has an excellent infrastructure and supports the fast-growing IT industry. It is lucrative in terms of real estate too. According to CBRE India’s Head of Residential Services, A.S, Sivaramakrishnan, the division of Andhra Pradesh has opened up more avenues for development in the former.
l Chennai
Chennai is predominantly an end-user-driven market and is hardly subject to speculation. The northern part of the city is essentially industrial, while the central area is a well-planned, developed zone that has commercial markets and some of the tallest towers in Chennai. South and west Chennai, which were earlier residential places, are now developing into commercial zones. These areas have a wide range of IT and financial-service firms, as also some of the tallest buildings in Chennai.
l Coimbatore
With its flourishing textile and spinning sector, Coimbatore is now recognized as the ‘Manchester of South India.’ Coimbatore is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai. Besides having a booming textile industry, Coimbatore has also expanded in other sectors, including automobiles, genetic engineering, and IT/ITeS.
l Kochi
Kochi is one of the fastest progressing smart cities of India. The city is on the map of many IT companies and is the center of activities for Kerala. Further, commercialization of the international airport and advancement of the sea port have only elevated the prospects of the real-estate sector. In the opinion of Saurabh Mehrotra, who is the National Director – Advisory at Knight Frank India, the housing demand in Kochi has been unaffected by the dip in NRI investments in the past two years.
Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswie)
