Ground Zero: Rooting for Revival
After staying in a virtual limbo for almost a decade, the realty scene in the Royal City, Patiala, and its mofussil town, Rajpura, has started seeing some upward trend off-late. Though the resurgence is still confined to certain areas, marketwatchers are seeing it as a good omen. With buyers trying their best eye commercial areas, the market sentiment is up.
“In the past six months, the real estate prices have gone up in approved residential and commercial hubs. Prices of plots in PUDA-approved colonies have gone up by 20 per cent, while the per square yard prices in Leela Bhawan, Bhupindra Road, near Civil Lines School are up by almost Rs 1 lakh per sq yard now as compared to these a couple of years back,” says Goyal Properties Nabha Road, owner, Rakesh Goyal.
“There is also a gap in demand and supply that is triggering the price boom as no owner is willing to sell commercial plots on these roads and customers are ready to pay whatever the seller demands for these lucrative locations,” he says.
During the Congress govt regime from 2002 to 2007, prices of property in the city had sky rocketed and it was a time when every property dealer made hefty profits.
However, with the merger of State Bank of India with State Bank of Patiala and no new industry coming to the city, the Royal City faced a stiff challenge in terms of property escalation over the next few years. Majority of the property dealers suffered losses and rates have started going up only recently after over 15 years of low phase,” says Bhupinder Singh, one of the most prominent dealers in the city.
The recent shifting of the bus stand to the new location on Rajpura road has added to property value in that area, but it has also meant loss for shopkeepers operating near the old bus stand. Despite government assurances, the old bus stand remains vacant with not much movement of local busses, adding to losses and also a drop in the nearby property market.
No New Projects
However just on the outskirts, more than a dozen private colonies around Patiala are yet to see buyers. Despite the property dealers investing crores and waiting to sell, there is not much investment happening here.
“We bought land, got clearances, raised infrastructure, constructed roads and streetlights and it is so painful to see that not even a single plot has been sold in the past nine years,” claims Charanjit Singh of Singh Properties in Sanaur. “As per rough estimates, each plot cost me around Rs 2,000 per square yard in 2007 and till date, I have no buyers even at Rs 5,500,” he added.
On the outskirts of Patiala, all residential schemes are yet to see any ray of hope. However, private scheme owners near Bahadurgarh, Bhadson Road, Nabha Road and the farmhouse concepts are now happily following the recent directive of the Punjab government to allow old schemes to sell without any NOC.
Resurgent Rajpura
Known as the first city of Punjab that falls across the national highway, Rajpura, too, has seen an uptick as prices have gone up for residential, agricultural and commercial properties. over the past few months.
The key trigger for realty market resurgence over the past 12 months are the recent announcements by the central government pertaining to some new investments.
Reeling under heavy debt and low investment, Punjab in August 2024 received a booster dose from the Centre with a Cabinet meeting, chaired by PM Modi, approving Rajpura as one of the 12 sites for smart industrial city projects. The projects are to come up as a “grand necklace” on the golden quadrilateral that connects the country’s major industrial, agricultural and cultural hubs.
Though a lot needs to be done to improve basic infrastructure and civic amenities in Rajpura, two new housing projects by developers from Mohali in addition to the commercial projects have brought some ray of hope for this politically neglected town.
“Price of an acre with decent connectivity has risen from from around Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 cr within the past two years. The boom is good and there are ready customers who want to invest in the area,” says Gurdeep Bedi, who has launched a housing project here.
“For past over six years, the only buyers in the market were those who genuinely needed property for personal use and there were virtually no investors in this market. However, the scene has changed now and there are more queries and serious investors, too, are showing interest in the area,” he added.
The entire plan under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme will be worth Rs 28,602 crore, with Rajpura industrial city alone approved at a cost of Rs 1,367 crore. The 12 cities have an investment potential of Rs 1,52,757 crore and are expected to generate 9.39 lakh jobs. The investment potential for Rajpura is Rs 7,500 crore and it can generate 64,204 jobs.
Speaking about the Rajpura project, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said 1,099 acres had been acquired and fenced. “We are ready to start the project. I met Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and he assured of full support. With the state’s cooperation, we can complete the project in three years,” Goyal had said, adding the land was free and the project ready to roll.
Encroachments woes
The whole town of Rajpura and almost all its main roads face the problem of encroachments. hawkers have a field day after paying a paltry monthly fee to Municipal Committee.
“Despite recent court directions, authorities have turned a blind eye to the menace, causing ample losses to the genuine shopkeepers, who feel helpless,” says Karamjit Singh, a local resident.
“I have a shop to sell shirts and trousers for which I am paying a rent of Rs 15,000 per month, however, a hawker sells the same just a few metres away from his illegal kiosk by paying Rs 2,000 a month to the local authorities. In these circumstances, who would want to buy or invest in property in this town,” he says.
Locational advantage
The Rajpura industrial city could become a hub of electronics system design and manufacturing. Located just a 35-minute drive from the Chandigarh airport and connected through road and railway network, the city would also be in a position to woo investors in food and beverages, pharmaceutical, machinery, textile and rubber and plastic sectors, he said.
While a major portion of Rajpura-Chandigarh Road and Rajpura-Patiala Road are still unapproved, approved plotting and housing projects are now coming up in every nook and corner of this town that borders Mohali.
Though when one of the largest engineering companies — Larsen & Toubro Ltd set up a 1400-MW Thermal Power Project in Rajpura, real estate activity on the Rajpura-Chandigarh and Rajpura-Patiala roads gained momentum and land prices in both these areas shot up.
The main Patiala-Chandigarh road has some good showrooms in Rajpura that were earlier (2005-07) available for Rs 80,000 per square yard, but despite demand the owners are unable to sell them at the same rates. “These are now available for sale at Rs 60,000 per square yard,” claims Sarbjit Singh.
Master Plan
Rajpura is an important sub-division of Patiala district and its location is highly strategic as two national highways cross through it. Rajpura acts as mid-point between Amritsar and Delhi and is the first railway junction of Punjab and Delhi — the Amritsar Railway Line. Recognising the need for regulating the development of Rajpura, the Punjab Government had declared a Local Planning Area Rajpura (LPA Rajpura) in December 2007. Chief Town Planner, Punjab, was designated as the Planning Agency to prepare the master plan of LPA Rajpura.
LPA Rajpura comprises 166 villages and the master plan was drafted in a manner that all sections of society, including the public , private and the social sectors had a fair representation.
The main aim was to develop industry, trade and commerce in Rajpura by striking a balance in the distribution of pre-dominant land uses with enhanced connectivity through road, rail and freight corridor in an environmentally sustainable manner. The draft master plan was prepared and objections were heard. In the master plan, the land-use zones had been proposed for LPA Rajpura residential zone, the commercial zone, wholesale and warehousing zone, industrial zone, logistic zone (corridor), mixed-land-use zone and rural and agricultural zone. An extensive road network has also been proposed for the master plan of LPA Rajpura.
