The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Escalation of property prices to slow down

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Escalation of property prices to slow down

Divya Ramamurthi

`Master Plan will release land for development'

BANGALORE: Realtors say the escalation of property prices in Bangalore will slow down when the comprehensive draft Master Plan 2015, being developed by the Bangalore Development Authority, comes into effect.

In the new Master Plan 2015, the built-up area of the city increases by over 225 sq.km. Most of the additional area is made available by opening up the greenbelt in the eastern part of the city.

Over 18 lakh people will need to be accommodated in the space, according to the draft plan.

"It will release a lot of land for development and stop prices from spiralling," Mayan Saxena, architect and town planner with realtors Chesperton and Meghraj, says.

With the city witnessing a population growth of over 3.5 per cent a year, and with the population overshooting in 2003 the estimate for 10 years made in the 1995 Comprehensive Development Plan, there has been an unprecedented increase in property prices. "Some areas in the city are as expensive as parts in south Mumbai. Something has to be done to slow down the trend," Mr. Saxena says. However, realtors say property prices will not come down. Raj Gopal, manager at Sudarshan Enterprises, says that since many realtors are vying for the same area, prices will not drop. R. Sujay, general manager of Feroze's Estate Agency, says prices will not come down until the Government decides to reverse the order prohibiting the registration of conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. "The order is forcing builders to buy up spaces in the city centre at high rates," he says.

M.A. Vakil, chairman and managing director of Vakil Housing, says the opening up the green belt will reduce the extent of unauthorised development in the area. Sanjay Gandhi, secretary of the Karnataka Ownership Promoters' Organisation, says: "Several builders have already bought up most of the land in the area and begun to offer schemes. The prices they are quoting are no less than the current market estimates," he says.

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