Construction of multi-storied
residential apartments has gained pace in cities such as Berhampur, Sambalpur,
Balasore and Jharsuguda, which boasted only of standalone houses built by
individual owners till recently. Contrary to real estate development centered
around the Cuttack-Puri-Bhubaneswar triangle alone earlier, several residential
projects are coming up in Berhampur, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Balasore, among
other towns. Apart from individual merits of certain towns because of
industrial activities around them and their strategic locations, apartment
culture is picking up across Odisha towns, industry insiders said.
Around 50 apartments with a total
of 10,000 dwelling units are under different stages of construction in
Berhampur alone. "People prefer apartments and planned constructions to
buying land these days. Salaried employees have disposable money but don't have
time to construct a house by employing a contractor on their own. They are the
large clientele here," said P K Rajeev, a developer in the south Odisha
town.
Berhampur with its good road and
rail connectivity is a gateway to south Odisha, making it a preferred
destination for people from neighbouring districts to invest and own a house
here. The real estate price here is now as high as Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 per sq
ft, only a little less than the price in Bhubaneswar .
Jharsuguda, an emerging
industrial town, where the government is planning the state's second airport,
is coming up as another real estate hub. "Besides apartments, simplex and
duplex houses, there are huge takers for plot schemes here," said Sajid
Hussain, a developer there. Sambalpur is witnessing similar vertical and
horizontal expansion with multiple developers undertaking huge projects.
Developers said with land price
skyrocketing in Bhubaneswar ,
housing cost in the city is exceptionally high. "This is ruling out a
substantial section of low middle class families from buying a house in Bhubaneswar . These people
can easily afford houses in the regional and district towns. Many others who
have money tend to own houses both in the state capital and in their native
towns," said Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India
state president D S Tripathy.
Source: Times of India
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