Area Scan - Borivali

Prospering suburb

Borivali is well-connected and developing at a rapid speed, says Shilpa Sachdev

Borivali is fast emerging as a favoured hot spot for home buyers. Rapid development of infrastructure, easy connectivity with the city and entry point to Mumbai from Gujarat has made Borivali one of the most favored locations in the city.

Om Ahuja, CEO - Residential Services, Jones Lang LaSalle India says, "Borivali - a major station after Andheri on the western railway route of Mumbai - has always been home to the city's quintessential medium/upper middle-income groups.  Since Borivali enjoys convenient accessibility to work spaces in the Western suburbs, it has seen consistent demand from the mid-management cadre of homebuyers over the years. The residential projects that have traditionally graced this suburb had always kept this social dynamic in mind and were priced accordingly.  The Western areas of Borivali are defined by housing colonies such as I.C Colony, Satya Nagar, Chikuwadi, Kastur Park, Shimpoli, Yogi Nagar, Trimurti Kripa, Devki Nagar, Saibaba Nagar, LIC Colony, Kosamgonagar, Madonna Colony, Marian Colony, Kanti Park and Kanderpada, Rokadia Lane."

Borivali has good connectivity via the Western Express highway and S.V. Road, as well as a number of internal roads which makes the area inherently approachable and traversable. A number of high-end residential projects are dotting the landscape of this fast growing suburb. Ahuja says, "Borivali's demographic profile has gradually begun assuming an upward trajectory, and several key developers have now proposed to launch premium projects in this region. The development of Ghodbundar Road, which connects the western to the Eastern suburbs of Mumbai, is inducing further growth in real estate prices and general demand enhancement in Borivali.

The Ajmera Group is coming up with a township projects in Borivali known as Yoginagar, which is spread over 8, 50,000 sq. ft. The township comprises some of the prominent buildings like Ajmera Regalia and Ajmera Pristine. Dhaval Ajmera, Director, Ajmera realty & Infra India says, "The project has a sea facing view, which brings in serenity and tranquil atmosphere. Buyers who have desired to buy property in South Mumbai, or suburbs like Bandra, Versova, with a sea facing view will now have a dream come true with the Ajmera Regalia project. This project is equipped with unique and iconic IB School, commercial and retail shops, civic facilities, clinics, medical stores, grocery stores and banks which make it a complete and self sufficient township."

Ajmera adds, "Buying a property in Borivali is highly advantageous as it includes the promised development of a sea link which will connect this suburb to Nariman Point in South Mumbai. This suburb also lies in close proximity to the airport making itself a well-connected and convenient area. Also Borivali is known to be well connected to other parts of the city by means of buses, trains and roads. At the moment, Borivali is considered as one of the most prosperous areas of Mumbai."

For Amit Trivedi, who shifted from Andheri to Borivali, the connectivity through the railway network is of utmost importance. Trivedi says, "We have a huge Gujarati community based out of Borivali so living here makes sense as we can attend to each other on any occasions. Also, it is the boarding point for many local and outstation trains. The property rates are going up as the demand continues to exist. But it is a strategic location to live in and has ample infrastructure one needs on a daily basis, be it gardens, schools, transport and so on."

Dimple Realtors are also developing several projects in Borivali like La-Bellezza, La-Vista and Galassia. A spokesperson from Dimple Realtors says, "Borivali has become a key combination of adequate social infrastructure. Here you will find adequate health care and entertainment hubs. It boasts of good health care services, malls, multiplexes, education institutions, gaming parlor, club houses and also has excellent recreational facilities and shopping avenue too. It is also a major hub for railway transportation. The recent development of Metro connecting Charkop to Mankhurd is new development. This metro is going to help people travel easily to far distance in short time."

The current property rates in Borivali (East) fluctuate between Rs. 9000-12000/-psf and Borivali (West) is moving up to rs. 18,000/- psf in certain pockets. The average rates in Borivali hover around Rs. 14,000/- psf.

New developments in infrastructure and real estate will continue to keep Borivali in high demand in the years to come.


published in Times Property on Jan 19, 2013

Pre Budget Expectations - Mumbai Real Estate

Priority list

The real estate sector hopes for lower interest rates, easier finance options and simplification of procedures from the upcoming Budget, says Shilpa Sachdev


As a sector that contributes significantly to meet one of the basic demands of life, the housing industry has much to ask for the Finance Minister in the upcoming Budget. With a view to keeping housing affordable, competitive and buyer-friendly, the real estate sector hopes that the government will chip in more incentives at the policy level.

With FDI in multi-brand retail, infrastructure status to affordable housing and RBI's recent reduction in the repo rate and CRR, there is optimism in the air. However, experts present their list of expectations from the budget, starting with lower interest rates that will redeem buyer interest.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & MD, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd. Says, "The expectation from the budget is to reduce the interest on home loans, especially for mid-end housing as well as give further tax incentives for investments in housing. The reduction in CRR and Repo rate announced by RBI will bring in some liquidity into the banking sector. This is a positive move and hopefully will reduce interest rates marginally which will help the real estate industry. This will also propel growth in construction activity across the country."

Magazine adds, "Government measures regarding permitting foreign investment in sectors such as retail, interest subvention schemes for the low economic strata and enhancing liquidity in the market are likely to revive demand for real estate space, especially in residential and retail. The budget should continue to allocate a larger share of funds for infrastructure development. Another step would be the introduction of Real Estate Investment Fund (REIT) in the market which will help mobilise funds to be invested in the real estate sector."

In the last few years, the realty sector has been grappling with a few challenges that need to be addressed at the earliest. These include higher costs, slow pace of growth, declining sales, difficulty in raising funds and stalled project approvals. Enlisting his demands, Boman Irani, CMD, Rustomjee says, "Currently, the sector is looking at certain key policy decisions which make home-buying a priority for everyone in the country. Giving infrastructure status to the affordable housing sector will help facilitate easy financing and address the housing problem to a large extent. Also, the one percent interest subsidy on home loans should be extended up to Rs 35 lakh."

Irani feels that the Government can play a major role in incentivizing the real estate industry by bringing down the taxes which comprise over 35 per cent of the sale value. He says, "A reduction in the base rate is extremely important as it will enable banks to lower their lending rates thereby resulting in reduction of interest rates charged to developers and home-buyers. Government should also look at developing provisions for Special Residential Zones (SRZs) in order to incentivize housing stock. Reduced taxation and simplified taxation by possibly introducing GST will be another welcome move. It will also significantly bring down prices benefitting the home buyer. We are looking forward to a raise in the income tax exemption limit to three lakhs and a reduction in excise duty rates to put higher disposable income at the hands of the public."

In order to meet the demand for additional homes, there is an urgent need to speed up the approval process and also improve infrastructure to sustain the spill-over growth, believes Sukhraj Nahar, Managing Director, Nahar Group. "We expect the government to come out with the single window clearance system for approving projects. To match the increasing residential development taking place in tier I and tier II cities, there is a need to improve the infrastructure base in these cities. Additional funding assistance to the prime cities for infrastructure and for the real estate industry to meet the shortage of working capital is expected from the Budget," he adds.

The government needs to issue guidelines that will foster the growth of affordable housing and encourage more township projects to meet the growing housing need. Dhaval Ajmera, Director, Ajmera Realty and Infra India Ltd. says, "With growing urbanisation in metros, the real estate industry is seeing huge opportunity for creating newer townships. It is vital that the Government should promote townships alongside industrial belts and give developers fiscal benefits to township development to entice developers in this segment. Clear guidelines should be announced by Government in order to avoid any kind of ambiguity on point of levying Service Tax on under construction projects."

Ajmera adds, “A sheer relief could be bringing in affordable housing.  This should be considered important with priority lending given to banks who could in return offer concessional costs to keep the cost of tenements within the reach of the common man. The budget should look forward to extending existing benefit of Sec 80 IB(10) of IT Act for developing affordable housing as  the country is still in a huge shortage of tenements.”

published in Times Property, Mumbai on Feb 16, 2013