Pune Real Estate - The Price of Rapid Urbanization

By the most recent reckoning, India's populationfor buying their Pune dream home. They have made a
currently hovers around the 1.15 billion mark. It islot of sacrifices to make this happen; having finally
estimated that by 2030, this figure will have grown tomanaged to save enough, they buy their homes and
around 1.53 billion. India's urban areas are just aboutimmediately regret it.
ready to burst at the seams, on the heels of anThe maintenance costs for their flats are far too high
accelerating population explosion.for them to bear - a lot of them can't afford petrol for
The population growth in India's rural areas in thetheir cars anymore. They travel to and from work by
present decade is around 18%, and over 30% in thebus.
urban areas. This pattern of urbanisation is seen asWe have all looked at the parking lots of highly-priced
encouraging, since it seems to indicate that India willresidential projects and seen dusty cars with
attain the global urbanization standard average in thehandmade posters on the rear windows saying things
course of the next decade.like 'Homemade Detergent Soap Available at Flat 12A'
However, it is also true that this upsurge in our cities'and 'Tuition For Stds. V to IX - Contact Mr. XYZ at
population is putting available civic structures like publicFlat 26C.
transport, water supply, drainage, sewerage andIt simply makes no sense to invest everything in a
obviously the supply of housing under severe pressure.home and then live in financial stress afterwards. The
This raises the question - how are India's real estatesolution obviously lies in finding a home where the
developers addressing the problem of insufficientsame investment buys you more.
infrastructure in and around their projects in the mainThe choice is between paying a certain amount on a
cities? The fact is, they can't do much.small, under-equipped flat in the crowded central city or
In cities like Pune, property buyers have no choice buton a spacious home in a location blessed with natural
to turn a blind eye to the absence of sufficientbeauty and and sound infrastructure.
infrastructure. They are aware of the fact that theyThe Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, which
will face numerous inconveniences, but what can theyplanned its residential areas decades ago, offers such
do?options. The integrated residential projects now seen in
Many opt to buy into projects that boast ofRavet and other sectors of Pradhikaran close to the
compensatory measures to overcome theupcoming International Convention Centre offer the
infrastructure deficit. These would include independentkind of homes that Puneites have always dreamed of,
water supply if a reliable municipal pipeline doesn't exist,but never been able to own.
electricity backup to make up for unreliable powerThe Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation also has
supply and sump pits if the area does not havean extremely vibrant economy, offering more and
adequate sewage.more job opportunities across all business sectors with
However, such projects in Pune City are few and farevery passing year.
between, and homes in them come at extremely highFinally, because of the regulated nature of the PCMC
prices. Also, no matter in how many ways Punereal estate market and the high emphasis on civic
developers compensate for lack of civic infrastructure,facilities and amenities, there is no question of an
they cannot add more than a token patch ofeventual infrastructure deadlock. The real estate prices
landscaped lawn by ways of natural ambience.are way below those see in Pune, too. For that
The high property rates are a real problem. Many ofreason, these are the kind of homes that will be
those who buy flats in Pune have saved all their livessources of joy for several generations.