Vizag Realty Poised For Rapid Growth

Visakhapatnam: With Visakhapatnam, often described as ‘Jewel of East Coast’ turning into the most happening city after Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, realt industry body Credai sees a bright future for real estate growth with high Return on Investment (RoI) quotient.

The TDP-led NDA coalition has declared its resolve to transform the city of nearly three million into a global tourism, IT, pharma, logistics, GCC and fintech hub. The city, which ranks 9th in contribution to the national GDP with $43.5 billion, has been identified by the NITI Aayog for development among four cities identified pan India as a growth hub pilot project under the ‘Viksit Bharat’ programame.

With a robust industrial base developed over the years after establishment of Visakhapatnam Port Authority (erstwhile Visakhapatnam Port Trust) in 1933 and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in 1941, the city boasts of a thriving cosmopolitan culture. From being a tiny fishermen village to Vizagapatnam city named by the British Government, it is now known as Visakhapatnam with the localities fondly mentioning it as Vizag. It is also called as City of Destiny as it offers plethora of opportunities to many with an overwhelming majority migrating from all over India and settling down due to its strategic location, mesmerising beauty with fabulous beaches, valleys and several heritage buildings including a chain of Buddhist sites located in areas overlooking the blue waters of Bay of Bengal.

A report compiled by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a global real estate and investment management company, in report prepared in 2023 had predicted a bright future for growth of real estate in and around Visakhapatnam due to the proposed Bhogapuram International Airport, Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and several other mega projects.

Credai Visakhapatnam Chapter Chairman KSRK Raju (Sai) in an exclusive interview to Bizz Buzz said that with the new government conceding most of their demands and promising to issue a GO on introduction of single window clearance for building approvals and other reforms and focus being made by the State and central governments to infrastructure augmentation, real estate in Visakhapatnam region is bound to go to the next level.

He said big ticket projects like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)’s 10,000-seater development center, mega investment of over Rs.135-lakh crore in a greenfield steel plant at Nakkapalli by ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel (India), speed with which Bhogapuram International Airport first phase is being developed by GMR Group at a cost of Rs.4,500 crore give enough indication on the demand for realty investments. Not only Visakhapatnam the periphery areas up to and beyond Nakkapalli, Payakaraopeta, Tagarapuvalasa, Vizianagaram, Anandapuram, Kothavalasa, Kovada and Srikakulam in future will get very good connectivity brightening the scope for taking up more housing projects.

Sai said already developers are receiving a lot of enquiries from NRIs and people who have made heavy investments in Hyderabad. “This is because of positive vibes being circulated due to confidence-building measures initiated by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh and Municipal Administration & Urban Development Minister P. Narayana,” he said, adding the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) is also keen to ensure zonal regulation as per the Master Plan.

He said while executing 80 meter widening of National Highway from Anakapalle to Anandapuram criss-crossing Kurmannapalem, NAD and Sheilanagar, East Coast Economic Corridor up to Sabbaram from Raipur, Chattisgarh capital, flyovers in the city under the smart city project, Beach Corridor and Metro Rail, enough care should be taken to widen 30 and 40 ft roads into 60 ft and connect them to the main thoroughfares on the beach road and highway so as to de-congest traffic keeping in view the projections for increase in vehicular population. He also wanted steps for more subways and foot-over bridges to prevent traffic snarls going by the experience being seen in

Hyderabad and Bengaluru.