SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2015 3

Anuradha RamamirthamRefeedback@timesgroup.com

With property prices onthe rise in Navi Mumbai,Dronagiri is an emerging

node of Navi Mumbai and apromising residential area. Locat-ed on the south of JawaharlalNehru Port Trust (JNPT), this loca-tion is one of the primary nodesfor port-related real estate activi-ty. Dronagiri is a large industrialzone and this area also has a ma-jor SEZ in the pipeline, which isgoing to fuel fresh demand forreal estate development acrosssegments. Prime minister Naren-dra Modi had laid the foundationstone of the Rs 4000 crore portbased multi-product SEZ and theRs 1,900-crore Port ConnectivityHighway Project at the JNPT. Ad-ditionally, with the New Interna-tional Airport and the MumbaiTrans Harbour Link's presence,

this area has generated huge in-terest in the industry, investorsand home-buyers and because ofthe large scale infrastructural de-velopment planned in this place,there will be huge employmentopportunities that will result ingrowing housing demand. "Anincrease in business and a part ofit declared as an SEZ, the demandfor residential and commercialproperties has increased in Dron-agiri, as this will become the de-sired residential hub for employ-ees of the companies and MNCspresent here," says KaranSabhlok, director, Kamdhenu Re-alities. This area is also closer toother nodes of Navi Mumbai in-cluding Uran, which is three kmsaway and Vashi, which is 22 kmsaway. "Residential real estate de-velopment is currently focusedmostly on the demand for budg-et housing by the industrialworkforce employed in this re-

gion. Going forward, Dronagiriwill benefit from various new in-frastructure projects such as theMumbai Trans Harbour Line. Thismeans that long-term real estateinvestments into this location,are bound to pay off," saysRamesh Nair, COO - business andinternational director, JLL India.Owing to its connectivity to southMumbai via the Trans HarbourLink, going forward, Dronagiri is agood residential destination forpeople working in Sewri or southMumbai.

According to industry experts,the location is priced between Rs3500 to Rs 4800 currently. "Thelow price works in its advantageas anything that starts small hasmore room for growth," saysSabhlok. The demand for afford-able housing has made Dronagirithe most promising residentialdestination for people to investin. With all these ongoing proj-ects moving towards their com-pletion, property prices arebound to shoot up in comingthree to four years and are ex-pected to reach a level of Rs 7000- 8000 per sq ft. The developmentof Dronagiri is going in the rightdirection.

"Infrastructure development isthe key to any urban develop-ment and I am sure the variousprojects initiated by CIDCO willgo a long way and play a majorrole in the rapid progress of NaviMumbai. Apart from the airport,we will soon witness the execu-tion of Mumbai Trans-HarbourLink that will connect Uran withSewree. Uran also has Navi Mum-bai's only beach that can be de-veloped as a great picnic spot,"says Rajesh Prajapati, MD of Pra-japati Developers.

Additionally, Dronagiri has theadvantage of the sea route toMumbai from Uran, which can bedeveloped as a picnic spot forMumbaikars as it is just 40 min-utes away from Ferry Wharf,

Mazgaon, Mumbai. The Maha-rashtra government has plans tolaunch an inland passenger wa-ter transport on the eastern coastof Mumbai with services betweenGateway of India and Mandwa,and Ferry Wharf and Uran by ear-ly 2017.

The ministry of shipping alsoplans to operate two waterbuses,or amphibian buses, betweenMumbai and Jawaharlal NehruPort Trust (JNPT).

QUICK BYTEInfrastructuredevelopment is thekey to any urbandevelopment andthe variousprojects initiated byCIDCO will go along way and playa major role in therapid progress ofNavi Mumbai.

Editor: Viren Naidu(viren.naidu@timesgroup.com)

Team Focus Navi Mumbai: Kamini Kulshreshtha, Noopur Modi

Marketing Coordinator: Kartik Balakrishnan (9769922280)

Chief of Design Head: Madan Patil,

Creative Team: Avinash Virshid, Chetan Narkar,

Vikas Bobhate

(RESP-ART: MUMBAI)

DRONAGIRI:A PROMISING NODEExperts say that the development of Dronagiri is headed in theright direction, thus fuelling demand for realty activity

FAST FACTTHIS AREA IS ALSO CLOSER TO

OTHER NODES OF NAVIMUMBAI INCLUDING URAN,

WHICH IS THREE KMS AWAY AND VASHI, WHICH IS

22 KMS AWAY.

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