Mohammed Aslam
Pune is virtually unrecognizable from the sleepy, laid-back city it was a few decades ago. There were no signs of any significant real estate action in the erstwhile Punyanagari before that. Today, however, Pune numbers in the Top Seven property hotspots within the country. The transition from a base for defense activities and personnel to a serious presence on the property market was a gradual one.
Pune’s ambient climate and surroundings had first earned it the title of Maharashtra’s Pensioner’s Paradise. However, a significant shift in this status occurred with the coming of Pune’s Industrial Revolution. The MIDC was the forerunner, but eventually some of the world’s leading corporates decided to take advantage of the city’s ample land availability, high education quotient and infrastructure by establishing major manufacturing and administrative branches here.
Industry requires manpower, and manpower requires homes. Inhabited homes require retail shopping and entertainment facilities. In other words, the industrial, residential and commercial property markets assumed steady upward mobility more or less at the same time. The coming of the Information Technology culture was high-octane fuel to the speed of property development in Pune. More and more land was required to accommodate the various national and international IT companies that finally led to the formation of such landmarks as the Hinjewadi IT and Software Park, Magarpatta and Eon IT Park. Once this process was begun, there was no stopping it.
Tempted by the sudden prosperity and opening up of the employment opportunities, job seekers from other cities made Pune their final destination of ambition’s pilgrimage – the new Entrepreneurial Promised Land. Another distinct shift took place with this inward migration – the profile of the average property buyer changed. The IT/software culture typically attracts young computer-savvy achievers who are willing to put everything on the line for their career.
The attractive pay scales offered by this industrial sector enable them to be extremely generous in their personal home-buying budgets, and downright choosy in the kind of homes they want. There was a year-long setback in the residential property demand from these segments when the downturn hit both the IT/ITeS and manufacturing industries, but both are now riding an upward wave again.
Since the demand for commercial and residential space was growing hand in hand, many outlying villages along the major expressways and highways were officially added to Pune’s geographical territory. Areas like Baner, Pimple Saudagar, Wakad, Kharadi, Warje etc. emerged as the new gold mines on Pune’s realty scene.
The clarion call of Pune’s upgraded realty fortunes did not attract local builders and developers alone – a number of major construction houses from beyond India’s borders began planning and executing ambitious housing projects in Pune. On the whole, the entire standard of quality and scale underwent a major sea-change, and hitherto unheard-of amenities, facilities and standards of luxury became commonplace.
On the property market, the phenomenon of expansion and development is known to be a self-perpetuating one – prosperity is never confined to a single locality. It positively affects its immediate surroundings, and this has been eminently true in Pune’s overall Property Boom, as well. Using the central part of residential and commercial Pune as a reference point, development is distinctly visible on all four sides of the compass.
Today, the entire residential, commercial and industrial real estate landscape in Pune has been transformed forever. A city that once lacked any significant standing on the national realty scene now stands out like a polished emerald that is the cynosure of every investor’s eye. The city boasts of an international presence. Apart from BPOs and IT/Software parks, Pune now features shopping malls, multiplexes, top-grade restaurants and hotels on a scale so far confined to cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Healthcare, too, has taken a quantum leap forward, with hospitals and diagnostic clinics of international standards catering to an enlarged, wealthier and more aware population.
Obviously, an enhanced and more prosperous population also calls for a major upgrade in educational institutions. Pune has always had the Oxford of the East title, but the amount of reputed schools, colleges and management institutions operating in the city today has qualified this label beyond all previous norms.
The city turns out top-class academics that are absorbed in the existing entrepreneurial infrastructure. The process is virtually seamless and perfect in itself, preserving local talent by providing career opportunities hitherto unavailable even in the rest of the country.
A quick look at the property scenario in India’s other major cities serves as a useful reference point by which to view the property boom in Pune:
MUMBAI – Commercial and residential activity is spilling over into the suburbs. Lack of available space and unaffordable property rates are to blame. Ironically, Mumbai’s suburbs seem ill-equipped to handle the sudden exodus.
DELHI – Most development had been confined to selected, preferred areas. This led to a concentration of residential and commercial development in these areas while the suburbs were largely stagnant. The trend seems to be ironing itself out now.
KOLKATA – As in Pune, the coming of the IT/Software/BPO culture has revolutionized the City of Joy’s fortunes. The obstinate blue-collar image is now largely a thing of the past as Kolkatans are getting a taste of capitalist nirvana. Housing is once again a major issue.
BANGALORE – Another victim of saturation development. The suburbs are beginning to experience a revival as far as property sales and purchases are concerned. Close parallels can be drawn between Pune and Bangalore by virtue of the strong ‘cybernetic’ undercurrents.
