Bengaluru: With Devanahalli’s largely rural landscape giving way to integrated townships, gated villa communities, ultra luxury apartments and industrial parks in a short span of 15 years, it is now emerging as the gateway to Bengaluru's future.
The real estate landscape of this backyard of the IT City has changed so dramatically with the Kempegowda International Airport fueling its growth in recent years, that urban experts believe it will be home to over 25 lakh Bengalureans in the next decade. They however caution, Devanahalli cannot be allowed to grow haphazardly like the rest of the city.
IT majors like Wipro and TCS are doing the spadework to establish their offices here as part of the Investment Region plan, which is expected to create 4 million jobs near Nandi hills between Doddaballapur and Chikkballapura on around 12,000 acres in two phases. IFCI is building a 50-acre Global Financial District at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore in the IT Park.
Devanahalli: New gateway to Bengaluru’s future?
Driving through Devanahalli in 1999, all you saw were vineyards, ragi fields, mango groves and dhabas lining the highway to Hyderabad. Cut to Devanahalli in 2016 and a drastically different picture greets you as the fields have given way to integrated townships, gated villa communities, ultra luxury apartment complexes, private layouts, multi- industrial parks and the ultra modern Kempegowda International Airport.
In just over 15 years, the real estate landscape of this small town in the backyard of IT city has changed so dramatically that it is now being spoken of as the gateway to its future. Eager to cash in, over a dozen Tier A builders are already camping here to strike gold.
Urban experts predict that in a decade or more over 25 lakh Bengalureans will make Devanahalli their home with IT majors like Wipro and TCS starting the spadework to establish their offices here as part of the Investment Region (ITIR) plan, that is expected to create four million jobs near the Nandi hills between Doddaballapur and Chikballapur on around 12,000 acres in over two phases.
“What we have seen here is phenomenal growth, which holds much promise from the investors’ perspective. Apartments by Tier A builders are bracketed around Rs 5,000 per sq.ft and vacant plots at Rs 2,500 per sq.ft. The prices vary according to the location,’’ said the A-Pac head of a leading brokerage firm.
The international airport has opened up such vast vistas for the realty sector here that internationally acclaimed architects are being roped in to design homes and offices in residential and commercial pockets. While Prestige has priced its premium villas at its ready-to-occupy Golf Shire between Rs 8 crore to Rs 13 crore, Sobha Lifestyle is selling its villas for between Rs 4 crores to Rs 8 crore. Hiranandani and Brigade follow with a price tag of Rs 2 crore for theirs.
Not too far way IFCI is building a 50- acre Global Financial District at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore in the IT Park, and the Aerospace SEZ and proposed hardware park are all set to house big names like Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Shell, Tata Elxi and StarragHeckert.
“Bengaluru North is the way forward for the city as it has the potential to grow in a planned manner and not haphazardly. The logistics and systems are being put in place in terms of infrastructure and the cherry on the icing will be the Metro connectivity to the airport,” said Mr Farook Mahmood, CMD, Silverline Realty and world president-elect of FIABCI.
Time to regulate growth
Devanahalli may be on the fast track to growth, but a retired bureaucrat, who has seen Bengaluru’s unwieldy development, warns this cannot be allowed to happen here. It's time to make long and short term contingency plans for Devanahalli’s planned growth, he emphasises.
“Now that we have identified growth engines and the key drivers, the emphasis should be on promoting orderly growth. We cannot repeat the same mistakes we made with Bengaluru. The advent of IT hit us hard in a short span. We allowed offices to come up on Bannerghatta Road, Sarjapur Road, Marathahalli, Whitefield and Electronic City. It was haphazard. We gave space wherever available without give it much thought in terms of housing, transport or other physical infrastructure and today we are paying the price for it. The city has outgrown the metro and vehicles have outgrown the road surface,’’ he noted, adding that it was time to plan zoning in a scientific and systematic way.
But sadly, the Bengaluru International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAAPA) is plagued by corruption, in his view. “It is an unprofessional set up with not so well qualified planners and ill equipped. This agency needs a total revamp and fresh surveys need to be done to assess the situation and lay a blueprint for future growth,” he stressed.
Water supply still in pipeline
While the southern , east and western parts of Bengaluru receive 1,450 MLD of water from the river Cauvery every day, most of the city’s northern parts, including Devanahalli, are still dependent on borewell water. A BWSSB official, however, says the BWSSB has submitted plans to the infrastructure department for creating a new network of lines to feed Bengaluru north with Cavuery water at a cost of Rs 5,038 crore.
Metro in limbo
While the realty sector is heavily banking on Namma Metro connectivity to the Kempegowda International Airport, the state government hasn’t moved an inch on the project as the report submitted by RITES has been gathering dust for the last four years! Sources in the secretariat say the government has not yet decided on the route and costing. “After the high speed rail was dropped, BMRCL was given the project. RITES,which was retained as consultant, has suggested the Nagavara-Hessarghatta-Yelahanka route as most feasible for the Metro Rail. But no call has been taken,’’ said an officer.
