Bhiwadi has today emerged as a bustling industrial township. Around 20,000-30,000 persons commute from Delhi, Gurgaon and Rewari to Bhiwadi on a regular basis to work in around 2,500 small, medium and large industries, which include MNC units that manufacture various types of products like steel, furnace, electronics, engineering, textiles, pharmaceuticals, cables, rolling mills, food processing, herbal care etc.

The Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) have envisaged for Bhiwadi a growth similar to that in Pune and Hosur. Good roads, developed plots, continuous power supply, high-speed data transferring facility and common testing facility are already developed in the industrial area of this town.

RIICO has envisaged developing a dry port that facilitates various value-added services. The facilities planned include container sheds, transit yards, warehouses, railway siding and truck parking, apart from excise payment and customs clearance facilities. RIICO is acquiring more land in Bhiwadi for expansion of the auto complex, which will have an exclusive auto component unit and engineering zone with a tool room and training centre. The automobile hub would generate new investment amounting to Rs.3,000 crores in the Bhiwadi region, creating employment potential for over 7,000 persons. As Rajasthan has the highest livestock population and tremendous bio-diversity, the state has good potential in animal husbandry, genetic engineering and biotechnology. To attract investment in biotechnology sector, RIICO is considering developing state-of-the-art biotech parks. A friendly-investor biotech policy is also on the anvil, under which many lucrative incentives will be provided to the biotech investors.

Some of the other projects that are to be taken up for development by PDCOR Limited, a joint venture company promoted by Government of Rajasthan and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), include an International Trade Centre and Medicity. An export-processing zone by DLF Group and a SEZ by Ansal API are also under implementation.

Future prospects

“The town infrastructure would get a further boost with planned and aggressive initiatives by the government”, R.P. Singh, Executive Engineer with Urban Improvement Trust (UTI), Alwar and Bhiwadi, remarks. He is positive about the future of Bhiwadi. "The proposal for railway station and bypass has been sanctioned. Within 2-4 years, Bhiwadi will be connected to Rewari by a broad gauge rail link and within two years a bypass will connect NH8 and Sohna Road. This year the state government has set aside Rs 4 crores to develop a commercial/office complex."

A focal point between all-important existing and upcoming industrial towns of Manesar, Dharuhera, Bawal, Chaupanki and Neemrana, Bhiwadi is on fast track offering great investment opportunities.

                                                                                           Realty Plus

The continuing growth of industries has naturally accelerated the demand for housing and it was in this context that in the 80's, Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB) constructed 985 lime and stone houses on 40 acres of land for the industrial workers on Dharuhera-Pawal Road. In 1991, RHB and UIT (Urban Improvement Trust) together developed Sectors 4 and 7 with 862 concrete houses built as part of this scheme (53% of them for the low-income group), while 266 of different categories are planned in the Milkapur Gujar locality situated to the south of Dharuhera-Pawal Road.

The housing options currently available in this town are the ones constructed by the RHB, plots of UIT that is purchased on which houses are constructed, Ashiana projects and Konark's Oasis group housing colonies developed by private builders. To meet the scarcity of classy homes, Ashiana has given Bhiwadi Gulmohar Park, Bagicha, Gardens, Greens, Rangoli and Ashiana Villas, which are fetching a good price for the investors.

Ashiana Group's exclusive project, called Ashiana Utsav, is slated to be India's first resort offering a comfortable post-retirement life to elderly citizens. The owners are free to sell or rent their flats and the builder also extends this facility for a fee. Anticipating a huge demand for housing by the employees of the proposed projects like car plant of Honda Siel in Khuskhera, SEZ of Reliance, Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway etc., several private developers are making contem porary-style apartments. MVL Coral boasts of podium garden, M-Tech markets Camellia Garden's luxury villas complete with personal swimming pool and fountain while Ashiana and Cosmos promise high quality residential developments. Kajaria Greens and Residency by Kingfisher are the other projects wooing the lifestyle-conscious people. And the yet to be launched Green City's NRI City will bring in the concept of golf homes. Besides, local developers like Nishita Builders Pvt. Ltd, Piyush Group, BDI Group & Bhaskar Media Conglomerate are coming up with integrated townships. With increasing consumer awareness, the developers are striving to redefine their product offering in terms of quality and design.

If one has to invest in residential property in Bhiwadi today, the plots by UIT are available between Rs 600-1200/sq.ft., the rates in housing colonies by RHB are around Rs 1500/sq.ft. and flats that are developed by private builders are quoted at a price between Rs 1400-2000/sq.ft.

Says Col. Dilbagh Yadava, Project Head, MVL, "There are several latent factors about Bhiwadi like the proposed airport, railway station, bypass, SEZ and Honda Siel Company, which have attracted real estate companies like us to develop our projects here." Adds, Prem Adip Rishi, CMD, MVL, "We entered Bhiwadi seeing rapid industrial growth and for its excellent connectivity. At present, there is an over-supply and so this is the time for wise investors to invest because once these projects materialize, the prices will escalate."

In fact, the price appreciation is already there. Amrit Pal Singh, GM (Marketing), Kingfisher Construction Pvt. Ltd. observes, "We had launched our project in January 2007, then the price quoted was Rs 1550/sq.ft. Today we sell our flats at Rs 1725/sq.ft. and by August 2008 when the project will be ready for possession it may go upto Rs 2200/sq.ft."

                                                                                                                Realty Plus

Once a sleepy hamlet shunned by the property developers, Bhiwadi, a bustling industrial town on NH8, is today witnessing frenetic residential and commercial activity, fast turning into a promising real estate destination.

Touted as a gateway to Rajasthan, Bhiwadi, falling in Alwar district and bordering Haryana is a major industrial growth centre in the NCR with more than 2500 operational industries. Bhiwadi enjoys immense locational advantage with Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, just 55 km away and Gurgaon 40 km away. Being close to Delhi and well connected by National Highway No.8, Bhiwadi is attracting industrialists not only from the capital but also from Punjab and other parts of India. Manesar, lying between Gurgoan and Bhiwadi, is another major industrial town with IT parks and proposed special economic zones. As the prices in Gurgaon are already high, service class people are left with no choice but to go to Dharuhera, Manesar or Bhiwadi. Several private firms like Ashiana, M-tech, Kajaria, MVL, Bhaskar BDI, Parsvnath, Omaxe, Piyush group etc are developing integrated townships and group housing projects along the Alwar-Bhiwadi Road, the nearest and most affordable destination. And today the real estate developers are quite upbeat about the brand Bhiwadi. Says Vijay Mohan, Marketing Manager of Ashiana Group, "In 1992 when we introduced our group housing scheme, we had to sell Bhiwadi first and then our product but today, from the marketing point of view, it is much easier for us to sell because Bhiwadi is gaining popularity and we are established as a brand in this locality. In 1992, people who had purchased flats from us for Rs 800/sq.ft. are today reselling them for Rs 2600/sq.ft. The 3 BHK villas that sold for Rs 15 lakhs in 2003 today fetch not less than Rs 60-70 lakhs."

The price appreciation is more discernible in retail arena as there is hardly any decent commercial complex in the town. In 1999, Rajender Gupta, a property dealer of Bhiwadi, bought a retail space in Central Market for Rs 5 lakhs. Today it has touched the Rs 50- lakh mark. He added, "Usually, every four years there is a boom in property prices and I believe that in 2009, the investors will get 100 per cent return for their investments."

Citing the reason for sudden real estate development in Bhiwadi, Rajesh Gulati, CEO, Infocus India, says, "Government's plan to develop Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor (Bhiwadi will fall under phase I) and the entry of several new multi-national companies in and around Bhiwadi have acted as catalysts." He added, "In 2005, with the development of Gurgaon, Bhiwadi started gaining visibility. But the land, which used to cost Rs 20 lakhs/acre then, has jumped to Rs 1 crore/acre in 2007. In a year or two, it is sure to double."

                                                                      Realty Plus

Lakhani Constructions, based in Navi-Mumbai, has launched three new realtyoptions at CBD-Belapur. The G+10 storeyed Lakhani Centrium at plot No. 27, Sector 15, offers plush offices measuring between 2,500 sq. ft. to 50,000sq. ft. Alternately, the G + podium + 14 storeyed Suncoast, at the same address, offers a choice between multi-level duplexes (2/3/4 BHK flats) and penthouses with modern amenities that include a swimming pool, indoor games area, gymnasium and meditation area. The project is scheduled for completion in the next six months. Lakhani's Galaxy offers ready possession options that stretch G+12 storeys at CBD-Belapur's plot No. 83 at Sector 15.

Mumbai-based Harsh Kaushal Corporation has launched its state-of-the-art Crystal Point mall at New Link road, Andheri (West), near the residential hubs of 4 Bungalows, 7 Bungalows and Lokhandwala Complex. The highlights of this centrally air-conditioned mall are a food court and entertainment zone on the fourth floor, with a banquet/conference hall spread over a massive 8, 000 sq ft. of area. An open terrace, measuring 30,000 sq. ft., is to be attached to it There will be two high-speed transparent capsule lifts that will afford a full view of the mall and its surrounding areas, ample parking space for more than 500 vehicles, high-class glass façade and a glass-roof atrium. Having already roped in Star India Bazaar as their anchor tenant, the mall is now open for booking shops on lease