After City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) launched plots for sale at Kamothe, the area has been developing through the last three years. It is located between Kharghar and Panvel and is accessible both by road and the harbour line. Also, the proposed Navi Mumbai airport is close, making the area investment-centric, with considerable potential of long-term appreciation.
As is the case with every Navi Mumbai node, the basic infrastructure has been put in place by Cidco. Residential development at Kamothe is visibly geared towards the middle- to lower-middle-income segments, with most residential projects having one-, two- and three-BHK flats. Now, Cidco plans to build shopping malls, and this should make area a preferred location in Navi Mumbai. Retail brands such as Food Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar are already present. Apna Bazaar, Value Mart, Spinach and Fairprice are some of the super markets in Kamothe. There are also a few open markets in sector 7.
Education and healthcare facilities are available locally, with more options available in Kharghar and Panvel. NexZone, the mini-special economic zone off Panvel, has primarily been aimed at the information technology/information technology-enabled services industry. It would have an integrated township of residential and commercial buildings, education institutions and entertainment malls, and this would boost the Kamothe real estate market considerably.
Owing to its strategic location, Kamothe holds great investment potential in the long run. The demand spillover is largely from budget-conscious buyers seeking an alternative to the more expensive Kharghar region. Local companies such as Neelsidhi Developers, Ravechi Builders, Haware and the Bhoomi Group are very active in Kamothe. Panvel is an area that holds tremendous promise. This historic town is distinctly divided into three parts---Old Panvel Town, New Panvel (east) and New Panvel (west). Through the last four to five years, the general real estate trend in the Panvel-New Panvel area has shown buoyancy.
The prime residential areas in Old Panvel are MCCH Society, Bawan Bangala, Thana Naka road and Sawarkar Ali; in New Panvel East, sectors 19, 12, 15A, 17, 1S, 2; and in New Panvel West, sectors 1, 2, 14 and 9. Today, the highest demand here is for two- and three-BHK flats, and the market is dominated by 10-15 storey high-rise apartment complexes.
The areas along the Matheran Road near Sukhapur, Nere Gaon, Swapnanagari and along the old Mumbai-Pune highway are the preferred locations for development. There are a lot of agricultural parcels available for sale-purchase at these locations. The development of the Panvel railway station-cum-commercial complex, the Mumbai integrated special economic zone at Raigad district, the expansion and upgrade of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and the announcement of a new international airport at the Kopra-Panvel area are boosting Panvel's real estate sector.
The writer is India-Head, strategic consulting (west), Jones Lang LaSalle India
