GST Road Set to Be Chennai’S SEZ Corridor Published by Newsroom September 6Th, 2007 in City Scape and Newsbytes
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GST road set to be Chennai’s SEZ corridor Published by Newsroom September 6th, 2007 in City Scape and Newsbytes . As the arterial highway connecting Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai to the southern regions of the state, the Grand Southern Trunk Road — or GST Road as it is popularly known, was a silent witness to zipping buses and trucks, carrying loads of people and goods for years. While Standard Motors, located on the southern outskirts of the city, had long stopped rolling out automobiles, the Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ), tucked a few km into the city on the stretch, was less glamorous to attract attention. In the mid-to-late 90s, when Ford and Visteon, along with a few auto component units set up base on the stretch, GST Road figured on the global automobile map, along with Sriperumbudur, which attracted the larger investment from Korean major Hyundai Motor. Today, there is a whole lot of new meaning for GST Road. With four SEZs already approved and room for at least a couple more, it may soon turn out to be Chennai ’s ‘SEZ Corridor’. Thanks to Infosys, which is setting up its largest development centre in Mahindra SEZ, GST Road now offers a fair mix of IT and manufacturing and has become a hub for property developers. “GST Road offers unparalleled accessibility and the best transportation infrastructure in Chennai in terms of connectivity as it is connected by road, rail and air,” says Mr Ramesh Nair, local director, Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj, which has bagged the marketing rights for the Shriram Gateway SEZ. “GST Road is also in close proximity to thickly populated middle-income catchment zones like Tambaram, Chromepet and Pallavaram, besides Perungalathur, making it attractive to IT and BPO companies,” he added. Besides MEPZ, which houses several export units and is also offering space for IT Parks to come up, and Mahindra Global City SEZ, construction work has begun on Shriram Gateway and L&T Arun Excello SEZs on the stretch. In addition, India Land, which is building a large IT Park at Ambattur, is planning a mixed-use SEZ on GST Road. “Unlike OMR and Sriperumbudur stretches, GST Road is the only place that has established infrastructure already in place. With a slew of SEZ projects underway, the stretch is fast developing into a kind of SEZ Corridor because of the availability of large tracts of land,” said Mr Rajesh Babu of leading property consultants, RECS Group. Sensing the emerging potential, leading property developers L&T Arun Excello launched ‘Estancia’, a large residential township, adjacent to their SEZ project. Akshaya Homes, which was an early bird on the OMR, has already moved into GST Road and launched a 520-unit residential township, Metropolis. Hallmark Constructions too has just about launched its 2,000 unit residential project on the GST Road. “Besides established infrastructure, rail connectivity, which runs almost parallel to the road is the biggest advantage for GST Road. Several established educational institutions are well entrenched on the stretch,” industry sources said. “Unlike OMR, which is set to house just a couple of hotels, there are over half a dozen hotels already there or being planned,” they added. Source: The Economic Times TODAY'S PAPER » FEATURES » PROPERTY PLUS October 23, 2010 GST Road: Living the highway life ARUNA V. IYER ASHA SRIDHAR Under the obvious chaos that surrounds a burgeoning suburb is the capacity of the real estate industry to earmark and accelerate development- sometimes with the help of government drives, and other times in accordance with the market sentiments. One such suburb, lying to the south of the city, has been part of history, connected important places in the state and is today part of the Golden Quadrilateral National Highway Project. The Grand Southern Trunk Road, runs right up to the town of Theni- with development that began at the Kathipara Junction, following close at its heels. Though this 472 kilometre stretch was one of the first suburbs to be well- connected by road as well as rail, it's viability as a residential as well as industrial hub did not ensue as anticipated. Good connectivity factored the growth in the social infrastructure largely only till Tambaram, with the areas beyond making marginal progress from being towns and villages. But with buyers as well as property developers showing renewed interest in this stretch, will it be back on the development radar? To that Mr. P .Viswanathan, Advisor, Shriram Properties says, “Unlike most other metros in India, Chennai has the scope to develop from all the sides. It is just that different corridors develop in different phases at different times. Now there are various factors that have triggered growth on this stretch, and with the advantages the stretch has, it will take offfrom here. The setting up of the Mahindra World City and SRM college have been important trigger points.” Today areas like Perungalathur, Urapakkam, Singaperumal Koil and Maraimalai Nagar on GST Road are soon becoming favourable choices to those who want a break from the clutter of the urbanscape. For others, it is the proximity to their workplaces that is a deciding factor. “GST Road should have taken off a long time back, with its railway and road connectivity being one of the best among the suburbs in Chennai. The delay and the subsequent pick-up in real estate can be attributed to the main city running dry of good property offerings, "says, Mr. Naresh Jain, Director, Siddharth Foundations. The willingness of buyers to invest on this corridor bracketed with the renewed interest being expressed by property developers and industries, this stretch is promising to augur sustainable development. “In the year 2000 we sold plots at Rs 75 per square feet, and today the rate has shot up to Rs 1000 in ten years. That is a 1200% increase in the value of land. With almost one lakh people travelling on the GST Road everyday, the rate of growth on the stretch is very promising, ” says Mr. K Dinesh Babu, Manager, Sales and Marketing, ABI Group. Raju Gupta, CEO of Featherlite Developers, whose project is coming up at Urapakkam says that it is a high potential road for development with the entry of companies like Ford and with the corresponding setting up of restaurants like Sangeetha and Adyar Ananda Bhavan among others. With the growth in social infrastructure paralleling the growth in industries and residences, it will usher in a lot development. The latest addition to the retail outlets on this stretch is the Gold Souk Grande Chennai which is coming up at Vandalur. Spread across eight lakh square feet, it has IT Parks, residential and commercial developments, a hypermarket, wedding and lifestyle brands, foodcourts and the four star deluxe Ramada Hotel. However, as of today most of these developments like public transport and good roads only reach residents living either on the main GST Road or those who are in close proximity to it. For those living in towns a few kilometres interior of the GST Road, for instance, not having a vehicle of their own could still be a constraint. “Unlike in the West where infrastructure precedes development, in India it is always the other way around. First residences come up following which roads, improved public transport and other such developments take place. This is true of most of the areas in the city like Velachery and the surrounding areas, and GST Road is no exception to that pattern, "says Mr. Viswanathan. While one builder says that today most people who purchase property plan to shift base to their new homes, there are others who look at it as a good investment option, for these houses fetch better rents than in the city for the initial investment one puts in. “There are a lot of schools and colleges on this stretch and students and lecturers have to travel huge distances to reach these institutions because as a residential area, it is still emerging. Those who are apprehensive about buying property take up houses on rent with very high rates. Apartments now come at a rent of around Rs 13,000 for a two bedroom and Rs 17,000 for a three bedroom, "says Mr. Raju. To those sceptical about the sustainably of the progress this stretch is witnessing, Mr. Viswanathan says, “The GST Road has the advantage of having an assortment of industries like IT companies as well as manufacturing companies. Hence the prospect for development is not dictated by just one industry. " .