KONA EXPRESSWAY: REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

Introduction:

The Kona Expressway, (National Highway 117) runs mainly within the state of West Bengal. Stretched over approximately 135 km, the Northern terminal is in Kona district in Howrah and the Southern terminal is in Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas district. It connects the cities of Howrah, Kolkata, Diamond Harbour, Kulpi and Bakkhali with NH 2 and NH 6. A total of one lakh heavy and light vehicles ply daily along the Kona Expressway. Since this road connects Kolkata and Howrah through Vidyasagar Setu, it has led to congestion on this road. The Expressway is managed by KMDA and the PWD.

Major Places:

The Kona expressway passes through many small and medium towns in West Bengal. These towns are either developed or important landmarks in Kolkata or they are in the developing stage. The major towns include Kona, Santragachi, Alipore, Majerhat, Behala, Thakurpukur, Joka, Pailan, Diamond Harbour, Kulpi, Kakdwip, Namkhana, Bakkhali. Localities that are good residential areas include Alipore and Behala while institutional places such as Joka and Pailan house several international schools and IIM C as well. Localities such as Diamond Harbour and Bakkhali have good tourist spot and attraction centres.

Real Estate Development in Kona Expressway:

Real estate in the city is mainly driven by the IT/ITeS sector. Other sectors such as transport corridor, trade, commerce and manufacturing are other employment generation options that are leading to real estate development. Kolkata, largely end-user driven, has maximum options in the affordable segment. Kona expressway, part of the golden quadrilateral project, is likely to witness lots of development in the coming days. The expressway near Dankuni is likely to witness industrial/commercial development which, in turn, will lead to real estate development in the area.

For nearly four decades, realty growth in Kolkata was largely seen towards the eastern side comprising of E.M. Bypass, Salt Lake, Rajarhat, amongst others. In the last 5 years, Western part has also created a landscape that is in the league of its own which includes a 10 Km high-speed corridor, modern high-rises, exquisite bungalows, swanky car showrooms and logistics hub. Moreover, this was followed by the development of over 1,000 acres on either side of the Kona Expressway.

While state agency Howrah Improvement Trust (HIT) is setting up housing and retail centres on 750 acres of land along NH 6, off Kona Expressway, most of the other developments are by private developers. The biggest of these is the Kolkata West International City (KWIC) which incorporates a township and retail centres over 400 acres. Kolkata Gateway, a housing project by Bengal Unitech is coming up on about 50 acres, while the logistics hub, being jointly built by Unitech and KWIC is coming up on 80 acres of land.

Strategically located, Kona Expressway helps to connect easily with the CBD areas including localities such as Alipore, Parkstreet, Dalhousie and Elgin Road. The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport can be reached within 30 minutes while the Santragachi Railway station, one of the important railway stations in Eastern India, is also close by. Schools such as DPS, Kalyani Public, Julien Day Schools are in close vicinity. Avani Group recently launched a big project on 7.5 acres at the junction of Kona Expressway.

The area has witnessed 12 – 15 per cent appreciation in the last one year after the launch of Kolkata West International City, a self-contained city having all the amenities from housing to hospitals, Schools, Shopping complex etc. Moreover, several other projects have also been launched in the locality. The largest is being developed by DLF that spreads around 4840 acres.

Besides residential projects, Unitech is also setting up Kolkata International Logistics City adjacent to The Gateway and a state-of-the-art convention centre-cum-hotel. Srijanprojects plans to invest nearly 1,000 crore to develop an IT SEZ on 50 acres of land to help transform the area and convert it into a major SEZ and IT node.

KMDA has divided its plots into 19 blocks and will invite tenders from commercial developers, preferably for housing projects. Some commercial and industrial zones have also been identified. These plots add up to 100 acres. Privately held plots are selling for 10 lakh a cottah, a 15 – time growth since 2000.

Key Projects Launched:

Source: Real Insight by CommonFloor.com

Price Range in Prominent Location:

                                                                                     Source: Real Insight by CommonFloor.com

Locality Accessibility:

Source: Real Insight by CommonFloor.com