18THE TIMES OF INDIA BANGALORE SATURDAY OCTOBER 11, 2014

Proximity toindustrial hubs and

connectivity throughthe upgraded Mysore

Road will result insustained growtharound this belt

Sai.Prasanna1@timesgroup.com

Kengeri is located towards thesouth-west of the city and itis on the Bangalore-Mysore

Road. The location is well-connect-ed by road and rail. The Kengeriarea has had a slow start in termsof real estate activity, in compari-son to the other parts of the city.This is because there were no strongeconomic drivers in existence in thisarea. The development of an IT Spe-cial Economic Zone (SEZ) over 120acres along Mysore Road resultedin the launch of many apartmentsin this location.

Srinivasa Reddy, Associate Di-rector - Research and Real Estate In-telligence Services, JLL India, ex-plains, "This location gained im-portance in the residential and re-tail real estate markets due to prox-imity to various educational insti-tutions followed by industrial de-velopments and good connectivitythrough the Outer Ring Road (ORR)and NICE Road. Ongoing and pro-posed infrastructure projects suchas the Metro Rail along Mysore Roadare expected to change the overallprofile of the micro-market and re-sult in price appreciation."

Prominent locations

According to Idirees Chenakkal,Head - Research and Consulting, LJHooker India, "Banashankari andRajarajeshwarinagar are the promi-nent residential locations aroundKengeri. Residential options aroundKengeri and Mysore Road includetwo-bedroom options in an average

size of 1,000 sqft priced around Rs35 lakhs, three-bedroom homes inan average size of 1,315 sqft priced

around Rs 46 lakhs and four-bed-room homes in an average size of1,600 sqft available at a price ofaround Rs 56.50 lakhs."

Mid-segment options on the rise

According to research by JLL In-dia, the residential sector in this lo-cation and the surrounding areas ismostly dominated by budget and

mid-segment apartments. This lo-cation has around 4,500 units of res-idential marketable stock from dif-

ferent developments.Capital values for resi-dential projects are cur-rently in the range ofRs 3,000-4,000 per sqft.

The typical buyersfor residential projectsin this area are from

government services, people work-ing in small-scale industries and asmall portion from the IT and ITeSsector.

Srinivasa Reddy elaborates, "Theoutlook for the residential sector inKengeri and surrounding localitiesis healthy as there is not much pres-sure from a supply perspective, re-sulting in stable and sustainedgrowth. With an attractiveinvestment proposition in the medi-

um to long terms, the housing sec-tor is likely to perform better."

Scope for retail growth

Research by JLL India indicatesthat large format organised retaildevelopment in this location is stillat a nascent stage. Unorganised re-tail development is seen in a fewstretches. There are several majorretail brands present in the vicini-ty.

Srinivasa Reddy adds, "The loca-tion has many prominent educa-tional institutions, hospitals, leisureand entertainment centres. The pop-ulation base in the vicinity is in-creasing due to increased commer-cial and residential activity. This of-fers high feasibility for retail de-velopments in the medium to longterms."

Proximity to the IThubs of Hosur Roadand Electronics City,

and the industrialbelt of Jigani, alongwith the availabilityof land at relatively

lower rates, aregiving a thrust to

development around Anekal

Sai.Prasanna1@timesgroup.com

By virtue of improved con-nectivity, several locationstowards the outskirts of the

city are emerging as micro-mar-kets and are set to turn into thenext growth hubs. Some of the fac-tors pushing these locations areproximity to economic hubsaround the city due to improvedcivic infrastructure, connectivityto these growth centres as well asto prominent residential neigh-bourhoods, and availability oflarge land parcels at relatively eco-nomical rates. This is giving athrust to residential growth here,with several options, especially inthe budget housing category. Onesuch location that is gainingprominence towards the south isAnekal.

Ram Chandnani, Deputy Man-aging Director - South India, CBRESouth Asia, elaborates on the rea-sons for the emergence of Anekal."Anekal is located 40 km from the

city

and is accessible through Ban-nerghatta Road and Hosur Road.By virtue of being located in closeproximity to Electronics City,Bommasandra and Jigani, Anekalis emerging as a potential location

for investment opportunities. De-velopers are acquiring mediumand large land parcels to developlayouts. Anekal is also consideredas a second home location for res-

idents residing insouth Bangalore".

Commercialmarket set toexpand

Situated at the border of TamilNadu towards the southern ex-tremes of Bangalore is the smallhamlet of Anekal. Housing ex-pansive facilities of IT/ ITeS, elec-tronics and biotech companies,

Anekal statistically accounts forthe generation of a workforce of2.50 lakhs according to VestianGlobal Workplace Solutions' sta-tistics. These operational units arean extension to the commercial of-fices in Electronics City and Ho-sur Road. The monthly rentalshere currently are between Rs 20-24 per sqft.

Shrinivas Rao, CEO - Asia Pa-cific, Vestian Global Workplace So-lutions, elaborates on the officespace scenario here. "Spreadacross 589 acres of land, Anekal isstrategically located on the Chen-nai-Bangalore Industrial Corridorand projected to grow at 10 percent

annually. Presently, this region ac-counts for 10.41 million sqft of op-erational office space. With va-cancy levels recorded at 24 percent,there is ample scope for occupantswho are present in Electronics Cityto launch operations in this region.Going by the current statistics, 0.38million sqft of office space is un-der-construction while planned of-fice space is recorded at 3.80 mil-lion sqft."

The Karnataka Industrial Ar-eas Development Board (KIADB)and the Karnataka State Elec-tronics Development Corporation(KEONICS) have reserved an ad-ditional 100 acres for future growth

along this corridor.

Commercial growth supportsresidential take-off

Presently, connectivity to thecity centre is only through the Ho-sur Road elevated expressway,hence the social infrastructure ofAnekal is currently limited andthere is room for growth.

According to Shrinivas Rao,"Residential choices are limited toapartment blocks on Hosur Roador Electronics City while plotteddevelopments and villas are grad-ually gaining traction. This micro-market is anticipated to witness

high commercial activity which inturn will support good residentialdevelopment in the short to medi-um terms".

According to an analysis by Ves-tian Research, the capital valuesfor Grade-A apartments here arein the range of Rs 3,000-5,200 persqft. The capital values for Grade-A villas/row houses are betweenRs 3,000- 3,500 per sqft. The capitalvalues for plotted developmentsare in the range of Rs 1,500- 2,500per sqft.

Vestian Global's quarterly re-search also reveals that the aver-age monthly rentals for apartmentdevelopments range between Rs10-15 per sqft while the average an-nual capital value appreciation isbetween 12-15 percent.

Plots and budget homes

Anekal is an emerging localityin the suburbs. This location is at-tractive due to proximity to themajor economic hubs such as Elec-

tronics City, the Bommansandra-Jigani industrial area and the Ho-sur Industrial Estate. The presenceof a large number of industriesand educational institutespaved this location as a preferredone for investments in plotted de-velopments and budget apart-ments.

Idirees Chenakkal, Head - Re-search & Consulting, L J HookerIndia, says, "Prominent locationsare Electronics City and its sub-urbs, and the emerging residen-tial areas are Anekal-Jigani belt,Chandapura-Anekal belt andAnekal-Attibele belt. As a resultof increasing urban populationand the spatial spread of the city,as well as the structural develop-ment planned under the MasterPlan of Anekal planning authori-ty, this location and its surround-ings will witness significant resi-dential development in the nearfuture."

According to research by L JHooker India, one-bedroom homesaround the Anekal and Chanda-pura belt, including Jigani, areavailable in an average size of 616sqft at a price of around Rs 15.60lakhs. Two-bedroom apartmentsare available in an average sizeof 905 sqft at a price of around Rs23 lakhs and three-bedroom op-tions are available in anaverage size of 1,300 sqft at aprice of around Rs 33 lakhs.

The city is a breedingground for start-ups and

offers great opportunities inthe knowledge industry

K S Narahari

Bangalore has had many epithets in the pastsuch as 'Garden City', 'Pensioners' Paradise'and 'Air-conditioned City'. But these are allpasse. They do not make much sense today, evento long-time Bangalore residents. The gardenshave shrunk, the city has long ceased to be ahaven for pensioners because of its burgeon-ing population and traffic jams, and we needair-conditioners in our living rooms to beat thesummer heat.

However, over the years, the city has becomemore popular as 'IT City' or 'Silicon Valley ofIndia' because of the large presence of softwareand services companies. You can add one moreepithet - 'Start-up City'. Bangalore boasts of per-haps the largest number of start-ups in thecountry in the IT space. Today, almostevery international technology com-pany, and home-grown giants, havelarge development centers in Ban-galore, working on cutting edgetechnologies for customersaround the world.

People from all over the countryand abroad have contributed to thegrowth of the IT sector in Bangalore. Inthe recent years, the city has become hometo lakhs of young engineers in the software andservices sector. Direct employment apart, theIT sector has provided jobs to millions of peo-ple from Karnataka in related areas such astransportation, catering, hospitality, security,facilities management and courier services.

Tech spurs city’s growth

The growth of the technology industry hastransformed Bangalore from a quiet, tranquilcity to a vibrant, contemporary metropolis. Thecity did struggle to adapt to the changes. In-frastructure found it difficult to keep pace withthe population growth. Entities providing ba-sic civic amenities like power and water arestretched.

But the positives vastly outweigh the nega-tive aspects. Because of IT, Bangalore today isa global city recognised and acknowledged theworld over. The city contributes more than 70percent to the State's exchequer. Products andservices designed and developed in Bangaloreare being used all over the world, bringing pre-

cious foreign exchange to the country. Teamsworking out of Bangalore are closely involvedin cutting-edge system design carried out byglobal companies. Many technology companieslocated in the city have become Indian multi-nationals.

Boost for tech education

Because of the proliferation of IT compa-nies, technical students from the city and theState have found opportunities to work in glob-al organisations in India and abroad. Many ofthem join as interns even while in college andget absorbed into leading companies as soonas they graduate. This gives them the experi-ence and exposure to leading-edge technologieson which they can build a sound career.

Many such engineers who joined global tech-nology companies in Bangalore in the 1990s aretoday leading multi-disciplinary teams in In-dia and abroad. Many of them have come backto the city after working abroad to become en-trepreneurs with start-ups in niche areas oftechnology. The opportunities that Bangalore

provides for technical people are immensetoday, matched by very few countries

around the world.Yet another positive impact of

the IT boom in Bangalore is onacademia. Technology compa-nies in Bangalore work closelywith many engineering institutes

across the country and premierengineering colleges to help stu-

dents innovate in their areas of study.Many companies have set up labs in these col-leges to familiarise students with current tech-nology trends.

Many universities have included the latesttechnologies of leading companies in their cur-riculum. Students doing well in innovation arebeing sent to company labs abroad to acquirespecific skills. In the long run, this trend willhelp graduating engineers to be much more in-dustry-ready when they become eligible to work.

Bangalore is way ahead of other cities in In-dia in the technology arena. But the city canhardly afford to be complacent. Many othercities and States in the country are aggressivelytrying to attract new investments through var-ious tax and infrastructure incentives. Banga-lore should remain alert to this competition.The State government must support the IT in-dustry in every possible way so that the citycontinues to maintain its premier position asIndia's Silicon Valley.

(The author is Director – Communications,Texas Instruments India)

EMERGING HOTSPOT

KENGERI

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITYPUSHING RESIDENTIAL

PROPERTY MARKET

STANDPOINT

IT CITY HOLDSPOTENTIAL

FOR START-UPS

EMERGING HOTSPOT

ANEKAL

RESIDENTIAL REALTYDEVELOPMENT GAINING TRACTION

RESIDENTIAL MARKETS AROUND HOSUR ROAD FIND MORE

DEMAND WITH BETTER CONNECTIVITY

THE HOSUR ROAD BELT OFFERS A VARIETY IN HOUSING OPTIONS

Pics: R Rajgopal

KENGERI: A COMMERCIAL HUB WITNESSING GROWING DEMAND

R Rajgopal