Smart cities in west india

Smart Cities in West India The central government is currently working towards creating 100 new smart cities in the country. Within a month of forming the government, the Central government had already started mulling ways to create these smart cities.

A smart city is one that satisfies various criteria such as regional competitiveness, transport and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) economics, quality of life, natural resources and citizen participation in city governance. A smart city is defined by innovation and has an ability to solve problems while using ICTs to improve the capacity.

The central government is currently focusing on creating smart cities across the country highlighting various strengths of a city such as heritage, industries and universities among others. Here are some of the smart city projects in West India that have recently been taken up by the central government and various other international organisations.

Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) Announced in September 2014 BKC is one of the fastest growing central business districts (CBD) in Mumbai. While Nariman Point, Colaba and Churchgate were the traditional CBDs in Mumbai, BKC has emerged as a modern CBD. MMRDA, the development authority in Mumbai Metropolitan Region is planning to transform BKC into a smart city in order to attract more investor interests and premium pricing for its remaining land bank. The development authority is planning to provide facilities such as smart parkings, street lights with focus on energy efficiency and wi-fi among other facilities. The authority is currently working on the feasibility of various facilities.

Real estate BKC lies within the reach of Bandra and Kurla. With the emergence of BKC as one of the most sought after CBDs in today’s date in Mumbai, the area witnesses high demand for housing by people working in the CBD. The most common housing units available here are 1 and 2BHK apartments. The average property values in the surrounding areas are about Rs 15,200-40,700 per sq. ft. Some of the well-known developers in the surrounding areas are Kalpataru, Rustomjee Developers, Oriana, Raheja Realty and Sunteck Group Important areas: Bandra, Kurla, Kalina, Sion, Chuna Bhatti, GTB Nagar

Dholera Announced in July 2014 Dholera is a small town in Gujarat near the Gulf of Khambhat. It is a small industrial town within the limits of Ahmedabad district. It is a port city in proximity to the western coastal line. The town lies on the junction of the Bhavnagar-Pipali Highway and Dholera Road. NH-8 (DMIC Corridor) connects the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) to Ahmeabad, Bhavnagar and Mumbai. NH-8A connects it to Bagodra, augmenting the Bagodra-Bhavnagar and BagodraSurendranagar-Radhanpur links. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway, a part of the Golden Quadrilateral also connects the region to other cities.

There are several factors for earmarking Dholera as a smart city. The town has a locational advantage due to the proximity to Ahmedabad as well as its good connectivity due to national highways, the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and distance from the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in Central Gujarat.

Dholera and specifically Dholera SIR (special investment region) will be developed as a global manufacturing and trading hub with world-class infrastructure. The region has been featured as a centre for industries, IT companies and logistics. The region is also close to GIFT city in Ahmedabad.

Real estate The announcement of Dholera as a smart city is giving boost to the town’s real estate. Dholera Metro City is the first residential township in Dholera SIR. There are already different phases being developed in Dholera Metro City. There are not many apartments or residential projects in the area yet, but there are several residential plots being sold in SIR. Some of the major developers include Bkesar Group, Magnanimous Infra Pvt Ltd and Jeevansrushti Infra projects Pvt Ltd. The Dholera SIR Infra Development Ltd is also developing residential plots in the Dholera Metro City area. Plot sizes are in the range of 900 sq. ft. to 9,000 sq. ft. The prices of these plots are in the range of Rs 2 lakh to 29 lakh, depending on the location and developer.

Shendra-Bidkin (Aurangabad) Announced in September 2014 Aurangabad is an important city in Maharashtra. The city is a hub for tourism. It is specifically famous for the Ajanta and Ellora Caves, which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Another famous monument in the city is the Bibi Ka Maqbara. The city is considered the tourism capital of Maharashtra. Apart from being the tourism capital of the city, the city was a major centre for silk and cotton production. One of the popular ‘Paithani silk’ saris are made here. Later, the opening of the Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railways also led to startup of several ginning factories. The city now has the Shendra-Bidkin industrial park developed by MIDC, which will now be developed as a smart city.

Shendra-Bedkin industrial park is the third industrial park developed in Aurangabad. It lies on a strategic location, on the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). As DMIC is aimed at developing the industrial zone across six states, the Shendra-Bedkin industrial park , which lies on this belt will also be developed as a smart city. The industrial park is already a 5-star

industrial estate. It is about 8 km from the Aurangabad airport, about 19 km from the Aurangabad railway station and about a 15 minute drive from the city of Aurangabad.

The industrial park is expected to be developed as an automobile and engineering hub. Some of the An Exhibition and Convention Centre will be developed here. Under the new National Manufacturing Policy, the central government has announced setting up National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) in the country. Shendra-Bidkin is one of them.

Real estate Shendra and Bidkin are two villages in which the Shendra-Bidkin industrial smart city will be set up. As off now, there is not much real estate activity here. However, the areas close to the industrial park have some real estate activity happening. Some of the nearby areas include Chikalthana, Jalna Road, Gangapur and Garkheda.

The most common housing types in the region are multi-storeyed apartments. There are also a handful of builder-floor apartments available. One may find a good number of 1 and 2BHK apartments in the region with a price range of about Rs 15-30 lakh for 1BHK and about Rs 20-40 lakh for a 2BHK apartment. The average property values in the region are in the range of Rs 3,150 per sq. ft.

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