Chennai Prepares For Ambitious Infrastructure Projects; To Take Shape By 2020

Infrastructure growth has been one of the key driving factors for the rise in property values. It is true of every city worldwide. This development on the announcement level also leads to speculative growth of 15-25 per cent in the capital values. In Chennai, the upcoming infrastructure is expected to do the same. Let's take a look at the existing strength of the various zones in Chennai:

North Chennai

The Chennai Port and Ennore Port, Tondiarpet, Madhavaram and Perambur are the main residential areas here. As of now, lack of smooth connectivity has restricted the growth of the residential housing. These localities are mostly home to businessmen or those employed in public sector while there are some other areas that attract the blue-collar workforce, too.

Central Chennai

Strategic location, smooth connectivity to other locations, organised retail along with popular names such as Boat Club Road, Poes Garden, Nungambakkam, T Nagar, Mylapore and RA Puram are what makes Central Chennai. There is no surprise that this area attracts some of the highest property prices in the city. The residential terrain consists of bungalows, independent houses and in the recent times, high-rises have also cropped up in areas like Anna Nagar and Alwarpet.

West Chennai

Real estate demand in West Chennai has soared after the saturation of localities in Central Chennai with price benefit still maintained. Be it the manufacturing and automobile hubs in Sriperumbudur and Oragadam, employment has pulled in investor interest in the area. Due to lack of organised retail, residential housing is also limping when it comes to growth however, office growth is being banked upon to pull in the buying crowd into these areas. The Chennai bypass, as well as the Outer Ring Road, has helped pool in investors though.

South Chennai

The southern zone's wealth is its commerce along the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the Grand Southern Trunk Road. It is home to a large number of IT/ITes facilities as well as special economic zones. Perungudi, Siruseri, Sholinganallur, Tambaram and Mahindra World City pull in a large workforce also giving a boost to residential space demand.

What could boost residential demand in each of these zones further? The upcoming infrastructure in the city, the Outer Ring Road II and the Metro, monorail and mass rapid transit system has been eagerly awaited. Here is all you need to know about the developments:

Outer Ring Road II

The arterial road network connecting Nemilichery, Nallur and Minjur will connect NH-205 (Nemilichery) with the Chennai-Kolkata Highway (NH-5) and TPP road at Minjur through a six-lane highway. Land acquisition is still in progress. The area will boast green cover, too, with saplings being planted along both sides of the road.

As per reports, the metropolitan area is set to have satellite townships, each of around 1,000 acres, along the stretch of ORR and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has already started the survey.

Chennai Metro Corridor I

The Chennai Metro Corridor from Washermenpet to Chennai Central station to Chennai International Airport will better the connectivity between the airport and Central Chennai via Guindy. “The entire 22 km Corridor 1 or Green Line stretch will be put into operation by the end of this year and, then, the remaining 14.5 km Blue Line or Corridor 2 from Washermenpet to Little Mount will be opened,” VK Singh, Chief General Manager, Underground Construction was quoted as saying. The stretch from Nehru Park to Chennai Central is expected to at the end of 2017.

Chennai Metro Corridor II

The Chennai Central to Anna Nagar and Vadapalani to St. Thomas Mount corridor will decongest the city centre and St. Thomas Mount. Metro rail's first line was launched in June 2015 between Koyambedu and Alandur, covering 11 km through an elevated corridor. It was followed BY a nine-km elevated line from Little Mount to the airport in September 2016.

Chennai MRTS

Chennai MRTS will connect Velachery to St. Thomas Mount and the Metro lines at St. Thomas connecting GST Road and locations such as Alandur, Guindy to Perungudi and Central Chennai. Chennai Metro Rail has opened the St Thomas Mount station for the public, but Southern Railway is yet to complete the long-pending work to connect Velachery station with St Thomas Mount. The work has been stalled as the state government is engaged in a legal battle with local residents over land acquisition.

Chennai Monorail Corridor I, II, III

With the aim to connect Vandalur to Kathipara, this monorail corridor is expected to boost real estate demand along the route especially Tambaram as it enhances the connectivity to city centre via Velachery. The share of public transport in the urban transport system of Chennai is currently 27 per cent which is eventually proposed to be increased to 46 per cent by 2026 as per a proposal sent to the government at the Centre reiterating the importance of infrastructure projects in the city.

The second corridor between Poonamallee and Kathipara will further connect West Chennai via Porur while the third corridor will connect Porur to Vadapalani. Expect this infrastructure to shape by 2020.