Faridabad en-route to Success

Somewhere, between the two Delhi - NCR realty hubs of Gurugram and Noida, the metropolis of Faridabad appears rather insignificant.  Shubhra Saini finds out how this micro market city is getting ready to bounce back on the map of NCR. The origin of National Capital Region (NCR) is traced to the recommendation of first ever Master Plan of Delhi in the year 1962. The prime aim was to reduce the burden of increasing population in Delhi and the growing demand for more commercial and residential space. The NCR encompasses the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi as well as urban areas surrounding it in neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Few cities, which shared borders with Delhi (Noida and Ghaziabad in UP and Faridabad and Gurugram in Haryana) were marked out and their development plans were linked to Delhi. The city, which shone brightest out of all these, in 1980s and 90s was Faridabad I Haryana, Noida in Uttar Pradesh was relatively unknown and Gurgaon was merely a town across the Aravalis on the way to Jaipur. Faridabad, being on the main railway line was the epicentre of industrial growth in Northern India. In 1990 with the dawn of IT era, it started losing its sheen. The IT companies needed airports and acres of land for its plush office campuses. Faridabad till then had created the image of dust ridden industrial town. Gurgaon meanwhile caught up on the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) trend and sped up its development to attract IT & ITeS conglomerates. In fact, most of the credit for Gurugram emergence as IT destination goes to DLF which created the basic infra for these IT companies. Expansion of Indira Gandhi International Airport T2 Terminal added to its glory. Noida [New Okhla Industrial Development Authority] scored over other cities due to its proximity to Delhi. The relatively well connected infrastructure attracted business offices and educational campuses. Many business units moved to Noida in lieu of tax benefits accorded to them. The progress for Faridabad was almost negative in 90’s as all the existing industries also moved away from Faridabad because of multiple factors like poor infrastructure, bad power supply, and environmental issues. At present, Gurgaon has become the epicentre of premium and luxury residential real estate market, Noida has emerged as a safe haven for middle and affordable housing projects while, Faridabad with the Smart City tag and better connectivity via metro and road to Delhi & other NCRs, Faridabad is on the right track to regain its lost glory. The National Capital Region (NCR) in India is the country's largest and one of the world's largest agglomerations, with a population of over 47,000,000. Problems facing Faridabad Faridabad at a distance of 32 km. from Delhi is situated on the Delhi – Mathura National Highway No. 2 that passes through the length of the city and is the central axis of the city of Faridabad. Further, NH 3 and NH 4 also pass through the city. It is connected with Gurgaon by the Gurgaon-Faridabad road. As part of NCR proposals, connectivity is proposed for improvement through the western peripheral expressway (Kundli-Manesar-Palwal -KMP) and eastern peripheral expressway (KundliGhaziabad Palwal - KGP). Economy of Faridabad is more or less dependent on manufacturing industries comprising medium, small and micro enterprises. The city is dotted with several industrial units, set up in non-confirming land use categories, primarily residential areas. Such haphazard development has created civic, environmental and health problems for the inhabitants of Faridabad. Transport demand in the city too has increased substantially, due to increases in population as a result of high levels of migration from adjacent rural areas and smaller towns. The city hardly has any road infrastructure like ring road or bypass road which add up to the traffic problems. To control the development of various industries in a systematic way and discourage the unplanned growth, the region requires an efficient implementation of development strategy to give a perspective picture of fully developed plan. Some of the reasons for a slowdown in Faridabad’s realty market are shortage of power and water supply, incompatible land use, pollution, limited entertainment and leisure options, and poor implementation of long-term strategic proposals. The New Scenario Faridabad is the largest city and largest corporation in Haryana. As an indication of good times ahead, the rising property prices in Gurugram, the other prominent city of Haryana state and planned development by HUDA (Haryana Urban Development Authority) with clearly demarcated sectors under residential, industrial, commercial and recreational are making Faridabad a lucrative real estate. Faridabad now has a Metro connectivity- the Violet Line of the Delhi Metro connects Delhi to Faridabad, and it will be extended to Ballabgarh. After this, it will be extended to Greater Faridabad. The Haryana government is also planning to link Gurgaon and Faridabad by a Metro for better connectivity. For boosting road connectivity, there are two bridges proposed over the Yamuna which will connect Greater Faridabad to Noida and Greater Noida. One of these will link Noida's Sector 168 with Faridabad's Badoli village (Near the Bypass Road). Furthermore, the real estate experts are hoping 2018 to be better for Faridabad real estate because of the development and extension of the National Highway-2 (the Delhi-Mathura Road). While, Noida and Gurugram lack the potential to increase the prices and value of the investment and are facing rising pressure over existing infrastructure due to sudden growth, Faridabad's infrastructure is still controlled to a great extent and it offers better chances for price appreciation because of lower price points. The whole nation faced the cascading impact of the triple whammy of Demonetisation, RERA and GST and Delhi NCR was the most impacted market, where unsold inventory was the highest. But, out of all the NCR cities, Faridabad was the only market to show a trend of quick recovery. Affordable Housing as USP Faridabad has become the affordable housing haven and is attracting end home buyers and investors alike. As it is close to the industrial belt of Faridabad, the demand for affordable housing is consistently increasing. Property rates in the region are currently in the range of Rs 3000 - 4000 per square feet and analysts are bullish over this property market as it has no inventory overhang terming it a stable market. As a matter of fact, with fast track infrastructure developments and connectivity all across the Delhi-NCR, Faridabad is touted as one of the best among the affordable destinations across the country.

Faridabad is currently an end-user/buyer market and among the most affordable segments in the NCR belt. The unit prices and apartment sizes available in Faridabad suit the requirements of average households. Going forward, this region's real estate market is going to witness additional impetus on account of the improved connectivity.

Important Investment Locations

• Greater Faridabad: Neharpar Area was rechristened as Greater Faridabad in 2004-05 under the city’s Master Plan. The location’s traction point is its sharing boundaries with Eastern Periphery Expressway, which connects with Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Palwal, making it an industrial corridor. Greater Faridabad may not be at par with Greater Noida or Greater Gurgaon, but is fast emerging as affordable housing destination. HUDA (Haryana Urban Development Auhtority) is making all efforts to project the market as investment destination and once operational the KMP (Kindly-Manesar-Palwal) Expressway will connect the Neharpar area with Delhi and Gurgaon. A three-km flyover between Delhi and Faridabad which will ease traffic bottlenecks at the Badarpur border has already cleared the traffic bottlenecks in the area. Six-laning of the existing bypass road starting from Badarpur, parallel to the Agra and Gurgaon canals is further adding to its connectivity.
• Surajkund: What works for Surajkund is its abundant green cover and proximity to south Delhi. Also, it is well connected with Gurgaon via the Gurgaon-Faridabad road and the Mehrauli-Badarpur road further enhances its connectivity with other NCR regions. Surajkund also has some good hospitals, malls and attractive hotels. The area also has many affordable options that drive middle class end-users and investors seeking properties near Delhi.
• Green Valley: It is a posh locality of Faridabad with all basic amenities and facilities. This locality is very well-connected to South Delhi and is located walking distance from Mathura Road, M.G. Road, the metro station, Crown Mall and Big Bazaar. The area’s property market is definitely witnessing a good price hike and the return on investment is increasing in this area.
• Dayal Basti: Dayal Basti is a newer developing area in Faridabad located in close proximity to Old Faridabad, NIT and Ballabgarh. There is a great demand for affordable housing projects in Dayal Basti. This locality is famous for National Museum and Tughlaqabad Fort Complex. Another attraction for this location is the availability of good schools, colleges and hospital in and around Dayal Basti.
• NIT: NIT, or New Industrial Town in Faridabad, is gaining popularity in real estate sector due to its proximity to Ballabgarh, Old Faridabad, Delhi and Gurgaon. People interested in budget homes in close proximity to NCR and Delhi are aiming this area. The basic amenities like water and electricity are provided by Municipal Corporation and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam respectively.

Towards Smart Development Faridabad Smart City Limited (FSCL) has initiated several measures to implement smart city proposal in a planned and phased- manner. FSCL envisages investing Rs 648 crore by end 2018 in almost 10 sub-programmes. Some of the major development projects that will be implemented include smart road, smart e-toilet, open air gym, rainwater harvesting, generating 15 KW power from solar energy, integrated command and control centre etc.We have also adopted some long term measures that include rejuvenation of Badkhal Lake and Lakefront Development, Barhai Talab etc. At pan-city level, it is proposed to develop smart traffic and transit management system with an effective IT system, using latest technology such as SCADA system for leak management of water supply, automated online water quality monitoring system, provision of smart toilets and smart solid waste management, Wi-Fi, underground cabling, solar rooftops and LED street lighting etc. As per FSCL, they have started online payment of taxes, setting up of ward level offices and a toll-free number for a proper citizen grievance redressal system. A Memorandum of Understanding with the National Institute of Urban Affairs has been signed for setting up innovation Hub for ‘Urban WASH’ solutions in Faridabad. FSCL is also starting a mobile application that integrates all the city services, providing more availability to citizens. The Positive Trends Faridabad has, for the longest time, been a small industrial town and could not create a strong demand for office spaces for corporates. With Faridabad's connectivity with other key areas such as Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida improving in recent years, the situation is likely to change driving the residential demand. The new initiatives like Faridabad connection to Delhi Metro, smart city listing and green signal for Faridabad Master Plan 2031 has given a new ray of hope to the real estate sector of Faridabad. The main motive behind these steps is to develop the social and residential infrastructure of the city apart from the cohesive industrial development. Additionally, the state government is encouraging small & big industries, educational institutes and IT companies to set up base here. IMT Faridabad in a flagship industrial township of HSIIDC. It is positioned on the Mathura Road over an area of 1,800 acres. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is constructing their research and development centre over there. All these developments ease the way for excellent infrastructure developments in Faridabad, which according to real estate developers & experts will also benefit investors & end users in the city. Along with swanky residential projects like Charmwood Village (Royal Retreat I, Royal Retreat II) by Eros Group, Parklands by BPTP, Piyush Heights by Piyush Group, there are commercial projects like EF3 Mall and several others under construction. A number of malls like Crown Plaza Mall, Good Store and Lifestyle, have already come up in the area. Educational institutions, such as Apeejay School Faridabad, Echelon Institute of Technology, Modern Delhi Public School, Palm Beach School for Autism and the Institute of Aviation Management, have also come up. Healthcare facilities include Apex Diagnostics and Polyclinic, Kilkari Paediatrics Clinic, Diagno Aide Pathology Lab and Kalra Child Care Centre. All this infrastructural development is now attracting realty majors to plan big and bring in projects that are of international style and standards. A number of real estate majors have planned big to tap the emerging demand for projects with state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipped with the latest lifestyle facilities. There were around 24 localities in Faridabad that had reported a better price listing and the annualized rental yield in Faridabad has witnessed a growth rate of 3.69%.  Though the growth index is not that strong, but it is expected to take higher side in the coming days, making Faridabad one of the best residential markets in coming time for both end users and investors.