It’s raining realty projects
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Sensing Kochi’s growth potential, realtors have lined up a slew of housing and hospitality projects
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The housing and hospitality sector is witnessing a renewed vigour with a number of upcountry and NRI groups making forays into Kerala. Despite the sharp increase in prices of construction materials such as steel and cement, and the increase in government levies, major groups are eying the State as a potential growth area where there are ample opportunities for realty.
Increased demand for housing from the IT sector and middle class people who have now settled for the ‘apartment culture’ in Kerala has prompted Non-Resident Keralites (NoRK) to launch major projects, especially in cities like Kochi. Here, each week new projects are being announced by the big players in the construction field.
Deep pockets
Of late, the trend has been in favour of ‘budget flats’ with a price tag of Rs.25 lakh to Rs.35 lakh, with a lot of amenities thrown in for the upwardly mobile aspirants who have just landed dream jobs in the IT and related fields.
Though the realty sector in Kerala is plagued by issues like scarcity of land and stricter implementation of the Coastal Regulations Zone (CRZ) Act, these have not dissuaded enterprising entrepreneurs from launching ventures in cities like Kochi. Though the demand for housing from the NoRKs, employed in the Gulf, has come down, realtors here do not hesitate to invest in their home turf.
With a slew of projects like Smart City, Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal, the Port-based Free Trade Zone etc. on the anvil, the demand for housing can only go up, feel some of the leading players in the realty sector.
Says Anil Kumar Sharma, chairman and managing director of the Delhi-based realty group Amrapali, “We have a land bank of over 5,000 acres in different cities. We have a reputation of delivering on time and this is what made us choose Kochi as the launch pad for our South Indian operations.”
This company has already announced a residential-cum-commercial apartment complex at Aluva at a cost of Rs.200 crore. The group is also looking at a five star hotel project in Kerala considering the tourism potential of the State. The UAE-based Holiday group is all set to invest over Rs.1,000 crore in Kerala in the hospitality-housing sector. The group is planning to set up five star hotels and resorts in Kochi, Kumarakom, Kovalam and Thiruvananthapuram. C.C. Thambi, chairman of the Holiday group, said the construction of the five star deluxe resort at Bekal, near Kasaragod, was almost complete and would be operational by next year. The group is also venturing into luxury housing projects across the State, the first one to come up at Marine Drive in Kochi. Another project at the IT hub at Kakkanad has also been finalised. A number of housing projects in various parts of Kochi and suburbs are also on the drawing board. Shopping malls in Kochi, Thrissur and Kozhikode, and integrated townships in Kalamassery and Nedumbassery are also in the pipeline.
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
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