Reach 1 of Bangalore Metro, when operationalised on October 20, 2011, was a long-awaited boon for east Bangaloreans. Residents along the corridor had lived with a constant commuting nightmare for long, and the Metro was a harbinger of change and hope in decongesting the city’s teeming roads.
The Namma Metro, as the infrastructure is popularly called, when complete, would cover a total of 42.3 km in Bangalore. Of this, the east-west corridor is 18.1-km long, beginning at Byappanahalli in the east and reaching up to Nayandahalli by connecting Mysore Road in the west. The 24.2-km-long north-south corridor, which begins from Hesarghatta Cross on Tumkur Road in the north, reaches up to Kanakapura Road by connecting Puttenahalli Cross in the south.
Currently, Reach 1 (Byappanahalli to M.G. Road) and Reach 3 and 3A (Sampige Road to Yeshwantpur and Yeshwantpur to Peenya) are operational.
Infrastructure overload However, the economic impact of Bangalore Metro is slowly beginning to be realised. Industry analysts point out that the impact has been slow since there are currently only 4-5 stops in each of the operational reaches.
The actual impact can be realised only when the commuter is able to cover longer distances in a shorter time commuting on the Metro. In fact, the completion of other phases and critical links, complemented by the growth of support infrastructure such as connectivity to Metro stations, will help decongest traffic on Bangalore’s roads.
Currently, though there is good patronage for the Byappanahalli-M.G. Road reach of the Metro, the operations have not cleared the infrastructure overload.
Global trend Globally, prices near the stations are 30-40 per cent higher for commercial property than others. India is not any different as far as this trend is concerned.
In the case of residential capital values, property along the Reach 1 corridor have already started reaping the benefit of the Metro train. Property prices have seen an increase of 30-40% from October 2011 to October 2014.
We witnessed similar upward trends for rental values across residential, retail and commercial property.
Residential rentals for property along the Reach 1 corridor have seen 50% appreciation over these three years, while Metro has contributed to rental rate increase of 40-50% in commercial property.
The floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial construction around 2-3km radius of Metro stations has already gone up. The FAR has been increased from 3.2 to 4 in the three years since the Metro has been operational.
Data available with us also point out that commercial space absorption has been better on this corridor in the past three years.
The impact
The completion of important links of Namma Metro will definitely translate into an economic impact, like in the case of Chennai, where localities along the elevated MRTS started witnessing the economic impact and infrastructure impact only after the entire stretch was completed.
In fact, a part of the escalation has already been taken into account as news of the Metro project came and zoning was done long ago. The bigger impact will be in stations situated in locations where residential developments are more. The demand for residential property within a 2 to 3-km radius of Metro stations will be high, as the project progresses.
Some localities such as Marathahalli and Whitefield will see more economic advantage than other parts of the city. The escalation will be more when the connectivity to far-reaching areas is operational.
Transformation evident
How has the Metro fared till now? According to C.N. Govindaraju of CREDAI, “To put things in perspective on the inauguration of Reaches 3 and 3A and its impact on real estate in the area, we need to understand how Reach 1, between M.G. Road and Byappanahalli, fared.
As an infrastructural addition, it worked to decongest areas of M.G. Road, Ulsoor and Indiranagar. Consequently real estate prices along the stretch began to soar.
Areas on Old Madras Road saw an appreciation of 25 to 30% in residential pricing. Commercial real estate received a huge impetus in the region. In addition, FAR was increased to 4 from 3.2 providing a boost to development and opening up avenues for revenue and investment.
A little known development was the change in resale value of homes in the vicinity of Reach 1. The resale value of homes in the Indiranagar region reached the Rs. 12,000 per sq. ft mark.
Connectivity is the key to development of any area in a city. Reach 3 and 3A of the Metro has decongested traffic on the stretch to provide low cost, fast moving travel option to the common man. Areas in and around the Metro stations are already witnessing transformation.”
