Location is everything in real estate – and never more so than in Pune, one of India’s most exciting and active real estate markets. The Oxford of the East has been steadily gaining a larger and larger share of the country’s IT and ITeS pie, and is now all set to surpass even Bangalore. At the same time, Pune’s real estate market is further bolstered by its thriving manufacturing industry as well as education and healthcare sectors.
With these multiple demand drivers, Pune’s property market is naturally an investment hotbed par excellence. Not surprisingly, the most advantageous locations in the city are beehives of real estate development activity.
As a consequence, areas such as Kalyani Nagar, Viman Nagar and Koregaon Park – the time-honoured residential destinations for the high-salaried IT class – have already reached saturation point. Whatever options remain are exceedingly expensive and beyond the reach of middle-income end-users and even most investors. Kharadi, Pune’s latest and most promising IT hotspot, is rapidly heading in the same direction.
In the midst of this real estate development and pricing gridlock, it seems improbable that one single new location in Pune can still provide both matchless location and affordability. However, that is exactly what Charoli offers.
To begin with, Charoli is located just 6 kilometres from Pune Airport at Lohegaon – the singular factor that raised Viman Nagar and Nagar Road to the highest levels of potential. In fact, Pune’s airport has proved to be a magnet for all classes of real estate development – residential, commercial, retail and hospitality. Lohegaon is the fulcrum from which a huge radius of development potential in Pune has been leveraged.
Airports As Economic Engines
In any form of business, areas that are easily accessible from airports are crucial economic drivers – and it is no different in Pune. The expansion plans of Pune’s Information Technology, automobile and manufacturing MNCs hinge on high-level decision makers who oversee them. Likewise, accessibility is crucial for the executives who follow up with the implementation of these plans on the ground.
Ease of transit to and from the city’s key business areas is therefore of primary importance, and has a direct effect on commercial viability of countless companies, the resultant creation of jobs and – as a logical consequence – Pune’s overall economic progress.
Also, airports in any city are massive catalysts for employment in various sectors such as hospitality, retail and logistics. Demand for residential property in and around the airport and the countless commercial undertakings it supports is extremely high, since the people who service these establishments need to live in the immediate vicinity. This is the primary factor behind the consistently high real estate investor interest in and around airport-centric locations.
Charoli – The Ultimate Real Estate Location
Apart from its proximity to the airport, Charoli has various other location benefits. It is just 10 kilometres from the Pune railway station, 7 kilometres from the IT hub of Kalyani Nagar, 8 kilometres from the high-end residential area Koregaon Park and 15 kilometres from Shivajinagar.
In addition, Charoli lies squarely along the proposed 170-kilometre Ring Road around Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. This massive infrastructure undertaking will provide an unprecedented level of inter-connectivity to Pune and the PCMC and beyond, vastly elevating the real estate profile of every location it touches.
Indeed, there are many locations in Pune that hold inherent promise because of their location. However, many of these have been unable to emerge in strength due to the fact that they do not fall within the Pune Municipal Corporation limits. This lacuna has resulted in severe limitations in terms of road networks, sanitation services as well as water and electricity supply. Charoli, on the other hand, falls squarely within the PMC limits and has all the implied benefits.
In short, Charoli is a coiled spring of development potential ready to make a quantum jump onto Pune’s real estate map. A strategic study of this area indicates that it is an ideal location for large, planned mixed-use developments.
About The Author
Arvind Jain is Managing Director of The Pride Group, a world-class property development conglomerate that is changing the cityscapes of Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. Established in 1993, The Pride Group has built and delivered over 1 million sq. ft. of constructed area and has an ambitious target of over 5 million sq. ft. by 2013.