Real-estate prices mounting around Devanahalli

Real-estate prices mounting around Devanahalli

The Hindu

BANGALORE: Real-estate prices are already on the rise in the Yelahanka-Devanahalli stretch, where the international airport is coming up. The financial closure for the Rs. 1,200-crore airport has led to an increase in land prices in the area. Barely a decade ago, the area mostly consisted of farms and vineyards.

The prevailing rate is Rs. 400 a sq. ft in the area. According to market watchers, better prices are in the offing by the time the airport becomes operational around three to four years from now. In some layouts, 40 ft by 60 ft plots are being sold for Rs. 9 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs.

Meanwhile, apartment complexes, villas and mini-townships are expected to be developed in the area, as is the case in Marathahalli, en route to Whitefield. While the IT industries are concentrated in the south of the city, the proposed Electronics Hardware Park and the two Apparel Industry Parks coming up are likely to support the growth of the Yelahanka-Devanahalli belt. Real-estate developers are pinning their hopes on the six-lane highway leading to the airport and the Railways plans to have a high-speed link from Cantonment station. Access and internal roads, of course, will have to be developed by the realtors themselves. The question remains whether they can do so, since the land prices are not similar to the prices in the south of the city. Realtors admit they may have to start with developing projects for the middle-income group, apartments costing Rs 15 lakhs to Rs. 25 lakhs.

Demarcation of the local government jurisdiction is what stands in the way of whole townships being built right now, developers say. People are wary of investing in plots or apartments in areas without proper roads, streetlights, underground drainage, piped water, and even police stations. Developers caution buyers that they should make sure a layout or an apartment complex is approved either by the Bangalore International Airport Project Authority or the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority.