Boom time for city's realty mart

Tax sops, hike in developmental area limit perk up segment

With real estate development in full swing, Ahmedabad seems set to justify the state's decision to mark year 2005 as the 'Urban Development Year'.

In spite of the rise in home loan rates and prices of steel and cement in the last few months, real estate developers and builders are geared up to development over a dozen big projects in the city which has a population of over 40 lakh people.

"We are planning to develop Ahmedabad as a mega city. We are at present reviewing the plan and upgrading the infrastructure through real estate development in the city," said Surendra Patel, chairman, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), on Monday.

The 132 Feet Ring Road, which has enhanced the accessibility of Ahmedabad with north Gujarat, is another important factor for the real estate development in the city.

"The Government Development and Control Resolution (GDCR) has been sanctioned, which will thwart any attempt for illegal constructions. Even the floor space index (FSI) has been raised from one to 1.8 and in high-rise building one can construct 25 per cent more by paying additional charges to the corporation. All these factors have boosted real estate development in the city," said Arun Chaturvedi, president, Federation of Real Estate Developers Association of Gujarat.

Ahmedabad has also become a hub of shopping malls and departmental stores with over a dozens new shopping malls and departmental stores opening in the city in the last few years, which include Pantaloon, West Side, Food Bazar, Super Mall, and Bazar Kolkata among others.

The latest entrant is Star India Bazar, which was inaugurated recently. Pantaloon entered Ahmedabad in 1998, while West Side set up shop in the city in 2003. Recently Big Bazzar and Star Induia Bazar also entered Ahmedabad.

"Year 2005 has been marked as the 'Urban Development Year' by the state government and all possible steps are taken in this regard for the development of Ahmedabad," said Patel.

Liberalisation in the state government policies such as introduction of Section 80 IB, which provides tax sops for housing activity in more than one acre of land and built-up area of 1,500 square metre has enhanced real estate development in the city.

"The Section 80 IB will tempt builders to take up bigger projects," said Chaturvedi.

Anil Bakeri, chief of Bakeri Engineers and Industries, one of the leading developers of the city, said, "All the sectors of the economy is growing, leading to the growth of the housing sector. People with higher disposable income and with the aggressive marketing of banks and housing finance companies, and sops provided by the government have boosted the city's real estate segment."