The Urban Development Minister, Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday
unveiled the names of 98 cities which will come under the scrutiny of a smart
city tag. Uttar Pradesh has the largest share of developing 13 smart cities,
Ghaziabad being one of them.
Will this news kick start the real estate market of
Ghaziabad which has been stagnant in the last couple of months? ‘Yes,’ say
industry experts.
“The population moving to Ghaziabad over the last decade are
salaried professionals, who are mostly tech savvy. Some of them are also
concerned about the environment. Smart City is a concept that makes life easier
for residents and enhances their quality of life. It is not limited to
technology," says Gaurav Gupta, general secretary, CREDAI Raj Nagar Extension.
It includes transportation, waste management, traffic
management, etc.
Ghaziabad has been
shortlisted for stage 2 of the
smart city mission. Everyone including real
estate developers will work towards providing such an environment,” he adds.
The development authority plans to put up informative LEDs
running on solar energy, free Wi-Fi access to residents of Ghaziabad for a
limited period, etc.
Developing Ghaziabad as a smart city, will definitely bring
in positive results. Developers will increasingly focus on energy conservation,
pollution control and come up with eco-friendly projects that will add value to
the lives of the residents also quality of living for residents will improve
significantly,” Gupta adds.
Currently, Ghaziabad is going through infrastructural
development - from Metro connectivity to flyovers and roads. “We have already
executed the first phase of metro line from Anand Vihar to Vaishali. In the
second phase, we are taking the metro from Dilshad Garden to Ghaziabad new bus
stand through Mohan Nagar. In the third phase, we are planning metro line from
Sector 62, Noida to Indirapuram CISF Road," says VK Goel, chief engineer,
Ghaziabad Development Authority.
Further, there is a proposal in pipeline from Indirapuram
CISF Road to Link Road and Vaishali to Mohan Nagar. The related Detailed
Project Reports (DPR) are under preparation,” he adds.
Expert
says that if the above mentioned development successfully completes and the
government starts its process of converting the city into a Smart City, then it
will push the property values significantly. “The announcement of it will only
help in pushing up the values in the next 6 months or so, by at least 10-15 per
cent. Once the metro and other infrastructures gets completed, property prices
can grow even further,” says Ankur Budhiraja, AB Corporations, a local real
estate agent.
Ghaziabad
might be considered as the city to invest. Under the smart city tag, it will
definitely progress and being close to Delhi will boost its prefer-ability
amongst buyers in months to come. Make an investment when the property prices
are still lower and make the most of the opportunity.
