CIAL and adjoining areas are witnessing a flurry of construction activity
The value of the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery is being felt more than ever before now - about seven years after it started functioning. The airport will be celebrating its seventh anniversary in a month with verve, since it has been one of the main factors that brought life to many a sleepy village around it.
Going by the huge swing in the property market in the area, the development around the airport is going to completely change the surroundings. It has already changed the face of the place, says V.J. Kurien, Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
People visiting the area after a long gap would not recognise the place, he said. There are 3,100 people working on the premises of the airport. Housing needs of these people has been a major catalyst in the development of the area, said Mr. Kurien.
CIAL project
The passenger traffic has increased to about 5,500 daily. But it is not this alone that has triggered development. CIAL has embarked on a major development project.
Out of the 1,300 acres of land with CIAL, 400 acres lying unutilised by the airport would be used commercially. There are at least five hotels around the airport, which include three-star hotels too. CIAL is planning to set up four hotels, of which two will be five-star and two will be three-star.
The company is also planning a convention centre, an exhibition hall and a shopping complex with an eye on the number of people who visit the airport for sending of or receiving guests and relatives.
According to Mr. Kurien, 15,000 people are estimated to come in and out of the airport in a day. CIAL is planning to develop a small township of its own which will bring in more people residing in nearby areas for their shopping needs.
The multiplexes and food court will be ideal to give meaning to their idle time, Mr. Kurien says.
Golf course
Another project that the airport is planning to come up with is a golf course. About 100 acres in the flight path cannot be utilised for anything else. The Union Government has already sanctioned Rs.10 crore for the Rs.13-crore project. The rest of the amount will be raised through membership, Mr. Kurien says.
Another employment opportunity will be coming up from CIAL, when it sets up a maintenance hangar here. Work will be started soon on the project. About 100 people will get employment in the beginning and eventually it is likely to provide employment to about 4000 people, says Mr. Kurien.
The needs of these people converging on Nedumbassery will have to be met locally. From Athani to Sreemoolanagaram panchayat, the impact is direct. The related small and remote areas have been witnessing a real estate boom.
All this is propelled by real time development and real investors, said Paul Iyyampally, proprietor of Pen Books, who has entered the real estate business with Pen Properties. One of the biggest projects of the area is the development of about 400 housing plots in 56 acres lying adjacent to the airport.
Calling it Pen Airport Village Nedumbassery, Mr. Iyyampally, believes that by the time the property is fully developed, the cost of the land is likely to go up several times. The cost of the land here is at Rs.75,000 a cent, because the direct access from the main road leading to the airport is yet to become a reality. A small bridge connecting the land to the airport road, now separated by a canal, would push up the land value several times.
G. Krishna Kumar, who is familiar with the land transaction patterns in the area, feels that the boom in land value is felt in a bigger radius beyond Nedumbassery.
Rising value
While the land lying near to the airport has appreciated nearly 500 per cent over the last one year, remote areas have gone up by even 400-500 times the price that was prevailing a year ago.
Land at Athani Junction (from where the road to airport takes a turn away from the highway) and the near by areas is as much as Rs.4 lakhs to Rs.4.5 lakhs a cent.
The price of land here had hovered around Rs 90,000 per cent a year ago. Price of land on VIP Road has gone up from Rs.40,000 to Rs.1.5 lakhs a cent.
The real estate brokers play a vital role in upping the land value too.
There is speculation. There are many around the area who have left their existing job to take up real-estate business, said a broker.
However, the speculation is not without substance. There are real buyers, unlike the property boom earlier.
Housing plots have been developed and sold by many real estate developers here. Most of the investment here has come from he non-resident Indians.
Two-pronged
The developments here are two pronged, says Mr. Krishna Kumar. One is the airport-related development and the other is the tourism-related development. As for the first reason, the growth of the area is fuelled by the demand created by the staff attached to people in the airport. Housing demand is the prime reason.
Another is tourism. Two four-star hotels are coming up at M.C. Road in Kalady and one on the Airport to Kalady road. Kalady, famous for its association with saint Adi Sankaracharya, is considered a pilgrim centre.
Close to the place, about 10 km, lies Malayattoor, the place which has been granted international pilgrimage status because of its association with St. Thomas. Now these places have gained more visibility because of the airport's proximity.
Infrastructure
Accessibility to the places has increased thanks to the other developments related to infrastructure.
A lot of basic infrastructure is being developed here. What used to be a two-lane main road to Kalady town, is now a four-lane road. Increasing road traffic necessitated the development.
All the housing plots being developed here would definitely bring in construction majors. There would build shopping malls and other basic facilities to serve the population.
A school too would increase the land value, said Mr. Krishna Kumar.
When the basic facilities such as school, college and hospital come up in the area, the land value is bound to rise, he said. Nedumbassery and its surrounding has been marked well by many who will be taking up its development.
http://www.hindu.com/pp/2006/04/22/stories/2006042200580100.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment