Expect More Action In Real Estate As Noida Gets Set For Another Film City

When the film city in Noida's Sector 16A was being set up about two decades ago, many would have thought it would be a replica of its peer in Mumbai.

Formally known as Dadasaheb Phalke Nagar, the film city in Mumbai's Goregaon East is not just a real estate space for those engaged in the film industry but also a legend the tinsel town of Mumbai is known for. The same, though, is not true of its cousin in Noida. Today, several media companies have set up their offices in Noida's film city, and some journalism schools have also come up in the hope of supplying professionals to these media houses. As far as shooting for films goes, only a few TV soaps are sometimes shot here. Noida's film city is more of a media hub and much different from what they have in Mumbai.

So, when the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) recently announced that it had received a proposal from a company to develop another film city at Sector 29 in Yamuna City, not many seemed impressed. According to media reports, a Mumbai-based company had asked the authority to grant it 30 acres to develop Noida's second film city.

Now, there are many questions that would pop into one's head. Does Noida really need another film city? How will another film city help Noida and its slump-hit real estate? The answer is, Noida and its real estate can do better if the project shapes up well.

How? Let's first understand the history of the first film city in Noida. Most activities of large national media companies has been restricted to the centre of Delhi. Major newspapers, magazines, publishing houses and television channels have offices in prime localities of Lutyen's Delhi. For instance, state-run Doordarshan, All India Radio, Press Trust of India and United News of India are all headquartered at Patel Chowk. The offices of most reputed national dailies and magazines are housed from Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg (ITO) to Kasturba Gandhi Marg.

The ones that needed large but economical spaces chose to set up shop in Noida, which was cheaper but not too far from action. The film city, of course, emerged as a great option. Two decades ago, land was even cheaper and many could develop their own offices. Demand followed the supply in this case. Later in 2009, when the Delhi Metro extended its route to cover Noida, film city saw even more companies shifting up their bases here. Now, major media houses were setting up their second offices here. Demand grew further, and despite the fact that Noida's film city did not become anything like Mumbai's, the Noida one held its own, albeit in a different way.

To expect the least, a second film city along Yamuna Expressway might do something similar to the upcoming real estate space there. The move to set up this film city might, therefore, make the market lucrative to invest in. A better planning and implementation could work wonders and the second film city might be able to do what the first could not.

According to the PropTiger DataLabs annual report for the financial year 2016-17, Noida was the worst-performing real estate market among the top nine cities of the country. It was in a dire need of steps to revive the property market. A second film city here could most certainly revive property in Noida.

For regular updates on real estate, click here