The city that has always brought in moolah

By Vasu

A curved, deserted road connects Tughlaqabad Fort in Delhi to the satellite city of Faridabad in Haryana. Ruins of the ancient fort, scraggy foliage, profiles of weathered Aravalli rocks and housing colonies like the Charmswood Village appear in a picture- perfect blur. The golden Surajkund and the lake at Badkhal look inviting and one can be forgiven for conjuring up the city as an idyllic getaway spot.

Passing through the freshly demarcated sectors towards the main trunk Mathura Road is enoough to help focus on reality. The vegetation disappears and blocks of chaotic factories emerge, spewing smoke and coloured discharge, with squatters and slums sprinkled liberally. Roads turn into dirt tracks fit for rally driving and huge billboards destroy whatever little aesthetic appeal the industrial town may have.

Yet for the big-time financiers and developers, the city has always brought in the moolah. Even today when properties across the country have stopped exciting investor interest, here, speculation continues. Thus oddities like the Greenfield Colony exist, where in spite of the fact that construction has been virtually absent and the entire area appears isolated and deserted, speculative interest has been at its peak. From a bottom rate of Rs 200 per sq. yard a decade ago, it peaked to Rs 6000 per sq. yard. This was because of its perceived potential due to its proximity to Delhi, says S. N. Kapoor, a dealer here. The entire market in areas like these is controlled by the big financiers of Delhi who, claims Kapoor, buy during a slump and offload at peak rates to pick up the same property later.

Other areas like sectors 21A, 21B and 21C are considered the VIP areas. Not because they are actually inhabited by the top brass but for remaining underdeveloped. ‘Influential persons’ ( read ministers and government officers) living elsewhere have picked up these plots mostly in the higher than the one kanal (500 sq. yard) category. After fulfilling the 10 per cent construction requirement, these people hold on to the plots for several years, say brokers. These sectors are occupied only to the extent of 20 to 30 per cent though the property rates are well entrenched. Plots near the lake are available for prices between Rs 2600 per sq yard and Rs 2900 per sq. yard. In the more inhabited Sector 21-A, plots are available from Rs 2900 per sq yard to Rs 3500 per sq. yard, depending upon the location.

While the sectors close to the Badkhal lake and the DLF property are still exchanging hands, it is the sectors 14, 15, 16A and 17 which are most preferred. These sectors are sought for residential purposes by the staff at the innumerable big business houses, which dot the main Mathura Road. It is here that the prime rates prevail with plot owners in Sector 15 demanding a price of Rs 4500 to Rs 5000 per sq. yard. In Sector 16A, the rates are somewhat similar to that of sectors 17, 28, 29, 30 and 31. They have an average price of Rs 3000 per sq yard.

One factor which has prevented property prices from plummetting here is the fact that no plot can be registered for less than the reserved price which ranges between Rs 1000 per sq yard and Rs 2000 per sq. yard for all sectors. Except the person holding the original allotment, owners are forced to keep the cash component of deals to the minimum level. There have, however, been very few deals, keeping in line with the depressed transactions in property countrywide.

Private builders and societies have also flourished in Faridabad. The DLF, which has extensive holdings in sectors 10 and 11, has sold out the entire area, though the colony is still underdeveloped and the basic infrastructure is not yet in place. Plot sizes here range from 250 sq yard to 1000 sq. yard and are priced at Rs 2500 per sq yard to Rs 3000 per sq yard for the smaller plots.

Prices and pollution in the main areas apart, it is the privately developed colonies like the Charmswood village which have raked in good returns for the owners while giving them a pollution-free living environment. V. Jairaman, who shifted to this area from South Delhi, had invested Rs 8 lakh in a villa in 1992. Today the property is priced at around Rs 35 lakh even in the recessed market. The prices had peaked at Rs 45 lakh around two years ago, says Jairaman, and the area offers quiet bliss not found elsewhere. Commuting and the purchase of essential commodities are also not a problem contrary to general perception. Likewise the other apartments of the village have held out with two bedroom flats (900 sq feet) flats available for Rs15 lakh, villas go for prices between Rs 30 lakh to 40 lakh and the nine-storeyed condos with attendant frills for Rs 40 to Rs 45 lakh. The Sterling apartments with three-bedroom accommodation are around Rs 45 lakh, say owners.

Land rates and appreciation apart, comparisons with the big brother across the border are inevitable and few satellite towns of Delhi ever match the infrastructure in the form of schools, hospitals and entertainment facilities the Capital offers. However Faridabad is better off in this regard and has recently gone into infrastructure overdrive with the likes of Eicher School, Delhi Public School, Appejay school, Escorts and Sunflag hospitals spearheading the private sector foray into basic development. A recent addition, entertainment zones like Destination Point and Little Paradise offer Go-carting, bowling, snooker, rock climbing as leisure-time activities for professionals who are shifting here from the Capital.

With the NTPC slated to augment the power supply to this region with a 400- mw power plant within another two years, power problems ( a constant sore point in the city in summers) may be reduced to some extent, making Faridabad livable.