Uran City Dream on Hold
The Maharashtra state government is planning to create Uran as the third city to decongest Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. Uran is a small fishing village turned SEZ situated about 80 km from Mumbai. While one may become excited about the prospect of a third city near Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the dream may be still far from becoming a reality.
The dream of a third city
Uran was a small fishing village until it was converted to a special economic zone. It is a part of the Navi Mumbai city township. The state government is now planning to connect Uran via a railway link to Navi Mumbai. The development of the MTHL (Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link) is expected to give a big boost for the town. CIDCO is expected to develop a part of the town’s infrastructure in association with other government agencies, the private sector is expected to develop the remaining infrastructure of the town.
The reality of Uran
While there are plans from the state government to improve Uran as a city and its infrastructure, the reality looks a little different. The proposed railway link from Uran to Navi Mumbai via Ulwe and Dronagiri was supposed to be completed back in 2006, but is now expected to be completed in 2015. The construction work is moving at a snail’s pace.
A bypass road was proposed about two years ago. But except for a board which is lying around for two years on a dusty pothole filled road, there is no sign of a bypass. The MTHL project which was supposed to be a key contributor to Uran’s infrastructure development has not yet started after almost four decades of its initial proposal due to problems in bids and funding. It has seen a small movement in terms funds only recently. The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport in the neighbouring Ulwe had given additional buzz to Uran. However, the airport’s construction date is getting delayed due to problems with land acquisition.
Even the social infrastructure is not much here. There is no specialty hospital for a population of about 24,000 people. The nearest one is in Vashi and it takes about 45 minutes to reach there. The nearby villages and fishing colonies face a weekly load-shedding of 4-7 hours.
All is not bad
While the social infrastructure growth is very slow, there is a good industrial growth in the area. There are JNPT, ONGC plant and other logistics and shipping industries. There are buses from Koparkhairane to Uran every half an hour. There is also a 3-hour state transport bus from Dadar to Uran. One can reach Uran by a ferry from the Gateway of India. There is a Navy base in Mora area. Schools and colleges have sprung up in the vicinity. There is a regular supply of water and electricity in the industrial areas though they dwindle in the small fishing colonies and villages. The colonies get water once in 2-3 days during summer.
Real estate in Uran
With both the positive and negative side of infrastructure in Uran, there is still an interest in property purchase. However, most interest is generated by the locals than outsiders due to the difficulty in commuting. Even people who get jobs in these industries prefer to travel from areas such as Panvel or Kharghar as they do not prefer regular movement of trucks and container traffic.
There are 1 and 2-BHK apartments which are coming up here. The tallest building in this area however has just seven floors. Despite the slow growth of infrastructure, prices have appreciated in Uran. The price of a plot with size approximately 1,090 sq.ft has gone up from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2 lakhs within the last six years. Price per sq.ft has gone up from Rs. 700 to Rs. 4,000. This is due to the hopes on infrastructure growth as well as limited availability of plots within the developed municipal town limits.
The common consensus among all the developers is that proper infrastructure like roads and railway link will boost real estate activity here.
