Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has inaugurated the ‘Northeast Realty Expo 2011’ at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre on Thursday, August 25. The real-estate expo, organized jointly by the Assam Real Estate & Infrastructure Developers’ Association (AREIDA), and the Hindi daily Dainik Purvoday, will conclude on August 28.
Around 70 developers are participating in the event displaying over 20,000 dream homes at special expo discount rates. Among the participants are Merlin Projects, Godrej Properties of Kolkata, Unique Builders, ARG Group, and Mangalam Builders of Jaipur, Infinity, Simplex, Ideal Hill View, Kone, Masonite, SBI, Brahmaputra Group, Royal Estate Developers, Earth Infrastructure & Okayplus Group.
In his inaugural address, the Chief Minister stressed the need for facilitating all-round development of the State.
“Development should not be Guwahati-centric. We are emphasizing on the growth of small towns rather than concentrating on only one city. Metros like Delhi, Bangalore and other others cannot be an example for us to follow,” Gogoi said, adding that it was only agricultural development that can kick-start the development process in all sectors.
Vice Chairman of AREIDA Ashok Pansari, in his welcome address, gave an account of the real estate development scenario.
“It was only very recently that real estate developers have come up in the city. The city has grown in an unplanned manner. For example, only 25 per cent of the GS Road is occupied, the highways have lots of space for industrial growth. But vertical extension is the most plausible solutions for a city like Guwahati to grow,” he said.
PK Sharma, president of AREIDA, underlined the need for having a ‘special housing zone’, in the line of SEZs.
MLA of East Guwahati Capt. Robin Bordoloi later inaugurated the ‘Traces of Seven Sisters’, a photographic exhibition on ancient architecture of the North-east.
Later in the evening, Shaam-E-Ghazal, a ghazal recital by acclaimed ghazal duo Bhupinder-Mitali Singh enthralled the visitors. The event will also include a flagship realty summit, exhibitions, award ceremony and other entertainment programmes from the likes of Indus Creed, Papon and The East India Company and Veena Music (Rajasthan) in the next few days.
‘The North-east Realty Summit 2011’ will have a conference for discussion of burning issues in a direct interaction between stakeholders and the authorities in the government on August 27. The speakers will include HS Das, Principal Secretary, Finance, VK Pipersenia, Principal Secretary, Revenue, Subhash Das, Chairman, ASEB, and Dr. Ashish Bhutani, Commissioner and Secretary, GDD.
The North-east Builders’ Choice Awards will also be presented in the expo on August 28.
