Bottom Line: Ghaziabad may not have lived up to its potential to be among the global destinations, it is definitely on its way to be a top destination.
Las Vegas, London and also Ghaziabad in the same league! Believe it or not but the western hinterland of Uttar Pradesh was chosen to be having the potential to be among the 10 most dynamic cities of the world. A Newsweek survey, which put the city on the global map, said so as early as in 2006, but since then it seems the city has weathered many challenges in its quest for glory and fame as an urban metropolis city.
Very few have doubts over the potential of the city as an economic hub to emerge; still the confidence level of analysts is yet to be unlocked and untapped in this part of the world. That explains why Ghaziabad is inviting so much of attention, even in the wake of slow developments and the slowdown post the assessment of Newsweek.
Today, there is a clear shift of investors from the over-heated and saturated markets to Ghaziabad. Reason: during this slowdown Ghaziabad has been hip and happening with relatively lesser inventory issues and fastest delivery. Of course, the city has the right property for each and every segment of homebuyers.
Moreover, the city is on road to a complete makeover by adding malls, hi-tech cities and golf courses to its new face. At a time when the property markets across the Delhi-NCR region are softening, it is interesting to note how Ghaziabad is defying the trend.
It may not be a glorified property market like Gurgaon, or over pampered market like Noida with the best of infrastructure as its claim to fame, but then it is the safest market to invest from future appreciation standpoint.
When the land acquisition issues were plaguing other markets of Delhi-NCR, Ghaziabad stood as the safest market since there has been no government land acquisition in this region. In terms of infrastructure, though the unlimited potential has not yet been tapped, it still is much better than even some of the more costly markets in the region.
Analysts tracking the market movement in the region maintain that the way Gurgaon flourished in the wake of crumbling physical infrastructure of South Delhi, Ghaziabad’s time has come when the property markets of adjoining areas, including East Delhi, are crumbling under the weight of infrastructure pressure. The moot point is whether Ghaziabad will really emerge as a global city the way Newsweek had forecasted.
Facts are encouraging at a time when many property markets would better prefer to skip the statistics. As per a Track2Realty study the demand has been so steady in pockets of Ghaziabad that today in places like Vaishali, Vasundhara or Indirapuram not even 15 per cent of the projects are ready-to-move inventory.
The projects in these places are mostly mid-size housing and premium housing and the demand and supply is in sync. It is no mean achievement at a time when the Delhi-NCR market is sitting over an inventory of nearly two years. The increase in metro connectivity in and around Ghaziabad is leading the average working middle class to these locations.
“I find Ghaziabad anytime better than the costlier neighbouring markets of the NCR. While saturation and load of infrastructure is an inevitable reality in other markets, Ghaziabad still is in its infancy level of growth and development. I think quality of life is comparatively better here,” says Manoj Rajput, a resident of Vasundhara.
The infrastructure development has also boosted the real estate sales here. The proposed 3 Lane Bridge over Hindon River at G. T. Road, widening of the 6 lane to 8 lane road from Dabur T-junction to Meerut T-junction via Mohan Nagar and NH-58 and with proposed 6-lane link between NH-24 and NH-58 is expected to smoothen the communication with Delhi, Noida and Greater Noida.
“In these locations demand for ready-to-move inventory is more than under-construction units which are affordable as compared to other locations. The biggest traction point of Ghaziabad is the fact that most of the micro markets offer affordable housing here,” says Vishal Gupta, a local property agent.
Ghaziabad might have been late to prove the 2006 study of Newsweek right, but its destiny as a global city can only be delayed and not denied. With most of the big-ticket infrastructure projects getting ready in the next few years, the slow and steady growth curve of the district might skyrocket soon. More importantly, the district has ever expanding boundaries to grow and very few cities in India have this luxury of choice.
