Real Estate Developers focus on flats as demand from actual Real Estate buyers moves up

For IIT aspirant Rajesh Kumar, finding a afordable room at Rs 2,000 per month is an uphill task in Kota. The influx of IIT and medical aspirants has escalated the afordable room rentals in the city. The rental for a single room in colonies such as Rajeev Gandhi Nagar, Indira Nagar and Vigyan Nagar, which are near coaching institutes, are not less than Rs 2,500 per month for a student. And there are more than 400 hostels in this area, which cater to the residential flates and apartments needs of students and officials of these institutes. "The city, thriving on a Rs 500-crore coaching business, has a large number of hostels and paying guest accommodation for over 50,000 students coming from various parts of the country. The city's economy runs on coaching institutes. A 2-BHK flats and apartments in these areas is rented out at Rs 8,000 per month while a 3-BHK flats and apartments would come at Rs 10,000 per month. Similar accommodation in far flung areas such as Nayapura comes for Rs 3,000 for a 2-BHK flats and apatments and Rs 4,000 for a 3-BHK flats," says Ashirwaad Neelanchal managing director D N Nainani, who is constructing 60 flats in Srinathpuram.

With the outsiders coming in large numbers there is a marked change in the trend. The apartments culture is creeping into the city, where people used to prefer independent houses till a few years back. This has prompted real estate builders to construct flats. "We are getting good response. Rather than real estate investors, it's the actual real estate buyers who are ruling the real estate market. A flats in Srinathpuram and R K Puram is available at Rs 2,000-2,200 per sq ft while land is also available for the same price in this area. Among the posh localities, Rajeev Gandhi Nagar commands the highest rate — Rs 2,000-3,000 per sq ft.

Availability of water and power makes it an ideal city for industrial as well as residential development," says Suwalka & Suwalka Properties managing director Rajeev Singh. The real estate developer is coming up with a couple of premium housing projects on Bundi Road.

Baran Road, too, is developing at a fast pace. More than 2,200 flats are coming up on this road. "This road is the future of Kota. The government has declared an institutional area on the right side of the road while the real estate housing board is to launch a group housing project on the left side. People are making their fresh real estate investment in these projects," says Shubham Prime Builders managing director Arun Mehta, who is coming up with a mega apartments complex on this road.

The main action point for commercial real estate activities is Gumanpura where a shop costs Rs 8,000 per sq ft while rentals range between Rs 25 and Rs 30 per month. Recently, the city got its first mega mall City Mall to herald in mall culture. Apart from big brands such as McDonalds, Dominos Pizza and Big Bazaar, the mall is also adding colour to the lifestyle of students, who form the largest constituency of the Kota population.

The state government is also making real estate investments to improve the urban infrastructure. "We are working towards multi-lining of roads and are building over bridges and underpasses to ease traffic congestion. The Urban Improvement Trust (UIT) has launched a real estate housing scheme in Lakhawa, which was oversubscribed at Rs 400 per sq ft.