DEHRADUN’S REALTY CATCHING UP PACE

       If you are planning to buy a second property, then Dehradun might just be the perfect destination to fulfil your desires. From being a favoured tourist hot spot to a pilgrimage, Dehradun is a good real estate bet that can allow a buyer to not only get a second home residence option, but provide greater returns on investments too. Due to its existing institutional, education and industrial hubs, the infrastructure in the region is ever-expanding; and now with the realty giants stepping up, a big makeover is in progress that will further enhance the attraction quotient of the city.

Even the NRIs have been showing a keen interest in the region, says Avneesh Sood, Director of Eros Group as he adds, “Since the fall of Rupee against the dollar, last couple of years have witnessed a surge in foreign investments in Dehradun and it ranks quite well against other major cities in the country and we expect this investment plan to increase by another 20-25 percent in the next couple of years.” According to a report by Assocham in 2013, Dehradun ranked fifth amongst the top favoured destinations in India by NRIs where Bangalore claimed the first spot.

Realty Map of Dehradun

The city being the capital of Uttrakhand is spread across an area of 3,088 sq. kms. with a population of almost 1.7 million. Apart from this population, there is a strong domestic and international footfall that takes place across Uttrakhand where Dehradun picks up the limelight. According to a data from Ministry of Tourism, total of approx. 2.5 crore Indian tourists visited Uttrakhand in 2015 coupled with over 1 lakh foreign travellers. This footfall has been increasing on an annual basis, highlighting the development of the state and its major cities, where Dehradun is most prominent. These increasing numbers have pushed the developers to come out with residential, commercial and mixed-land use projects across the city. “Hospitality, retail and realty sector and industries gain the most when a region offers a wide variety of options for a tourist. Developed retail and hospitality sites in such regions allows greater footfall that can also enhance the demand for real estate in the long run. Tourism in India has been a strong converter for the realty sector as well where Tier 2 regions gain the most”, avers Prithvi Raj Kasana, MD, Morpheus Group.

Speaking about the popular micro pockets of Dehradun, there are a total of 11 favoured regions by the developers where construction is taking place at a rapid pace and several projects have been already delivered. Descending on the basis of demand of the regions, chart begins with Sahastradhara, followed by Rajpur Road, GMS Road, Mussoorie Road, Haridwar-Dehradun Road, Dalanwala, Nehrugram, Canal Road, Race Course, Jakhan and Chakrata Road.

S. NO.	REGION	CIRCLE RATES(Rs. per sq. mtr.)	AVG. PRICE(Rs.)	UNIT SIZE RANGE(sq. ft.)
1	Sahastradhara	28,200	35 Lakh	550-3,550
2	Rajpur Road	65,000	55 Lakh	475-3,019
3	GMS Road	36,000	40 Lakh	1,120-2,883
4	Mussoorie Road	38,100	40 Lakh	413-3,250
5	Haridwar-Dehradun Road	38,100	40 Lakh	625-3,200
6	Dalanwala	38,100	40 Lakh	631-5,712
7	Nehrugram	28,000	35 Lakh	950-5,100
8	Canal Road	65,000	55 Lakh	1,020-4,030
9	Race Course	38,100	45 Lakh	850-2,620
10	Jakhan	28,000	40 Lakh	970-3,143
11	Chakrata Road	28,200	35 Lakh	845-1,555

“Real estate map of Dehradun offers a wide range of unit sizes available at highly affordable prices which makes it an even better deal for people opting for second property options. Even the property prices observe good appreciation on an annual basis with infrastructure witnessing a major revamp. Due to the residential sales rising in the regions, demand for commercial setups has lead to the supply of retail and office spaces”, says Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Group.

At present, Dehradun offers a total of 157 residential and 6 commercial projects that are in different stages of construction with several projects ready to move in. Amongst the big names, Pacific Group, Supertech, ATS Group, Pushpanjali Builders, Unitech Group, Pearls Infrastructure, Parsvanath, Sikka and others have projects in place.

Demand for housing in Dehradun is a lot different from that of NCR. Obvious reason being, located at hilltop, it doesn’t allow the developers to construct high rises. As per the present building by-laws in the city, a tower can have a maximum of G+9 floors. Thus, the concept of independent or villa living is predominant in Dehradun. Even the current inventory of Dehradun offer more villas than apartments. Highlighting the same, Kushagr Ansal, Director of Ansal Housing explains, “The criteria for development on hilltops is way different from the plains due to the different building by-laws present in those regions and thus, the concept and demand is also different. Duplex and Villa living is more common than apartment style living and thus, projects offered according to the former concept is more prominent in such regions than the latter.”

Infrastructure In Focus

Dehradun has been quite active in terms of developing and upgrading the infrastructure along the micro regions. Speaking about the developed infrastructure, there is a strong presence of hospitality, retail, health, educational institutes, IT parks, administrative setups and strong road and aerial connectivity. For instance, Doon University, Indian Military Academy, IIAE aeronautical college, Forest Research Institute and Institute of Petroleum comprise amongst the educational strongholds in the region. FMCG industry has been the core behind Dehradun’s development with the presence of big brands such as HUL, ITC, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. and inclusion of Patanjali in 2006. Furthermore, Jolly Grant Airport has been upgraded and shares a strategic connectivity with Dehradun, Hrishikesh and Haridwar, falling within a distance of 25 Kms from each. Also, the existing Helipad in Sahastradhara is under plans to be upgraded into an Airport that will directly cater the city. Dehradun is located nearly 45 Kms from NH 58 and has another National Highway- NH 307 which links it with Chhutmalpur in Uttar Pradesh on NH 344. Also, there are 2 state highways connecting Dehradun with Shimla and Saharanpur via SH 2 and SH 57 respectively. “Long run acceptance and performance of any region is directly dependent on its infrastructure. Tier 2 cities have been well planned and connected with Tier 1 cities, where Uttrakhand and UP presents a classic case of infrastructure driven realty. With so many infra projects in pipeline, National and State Highways offering superior road network, the region’s realty sector will shape up even better few years down the line”, concludes Rakesh Yadav, Chairman, Antriksh India Group.