Small towns around Delhi set to get New Jersey-style makeover

Alwar, Sonepat, Meerut and several other small towns around Delhi are set to get a New Jersey-style makeover as new-age rapid commuter trains and interference-free motorways shrink their distances from India's capital, giving top property companies commercial incentive to take self-sufficient suburban living to these once-distant locations.

Brand new rapid train corridors, separate from the congested century-old railroads weighed down by traffic and time, will soon connect downtown Delhi and Noida to Meerut, Karnal, and Alwar, while tolled peripheral expressways and access-controlled motorways are already linking the likes of Palwal, Bahadurgarh and Sonepat to the capital, slashing by half the commute times from these small towns in the National Capital Region (NCR) to Connaught Place or ITO.

And that's encouraging the likes of Godrej, DLF, Trident Realty, Mapsko, M3M, and Alpha Corp to look beyond their traditional investment bailiwicks of Noida, Greater Noida and Gurgaon - glittering glass-and-steel millennial suburbs that now offer more modern infrastructure than do most pockets of Delhi.


"The infra development focused on improved connectivity, accessibility, and standard of living is enhancing the liveability index in the peripheries of NCR, thus fueling interest from both buyers and investors," said S K Narvar, Group chairman, Trident Realty.

With a noticeable increase in the number of corporates and a rapid rise in Delhi's organized-sector working population, numerous micro-markets in the outlying areas of the NCR are seeing traction for both residential and commercial properties.

"With every road, bridge, and metro line constructed, these peripheral areas of Delhi NCR are blooming into vibrant centers of opportunity, enhancing the scope for real estate development," said Santosh Agarwal, CFO and Executive Director, Alphacorp. NYC, London Commuter Towns

A rapid rail proposed between Delhi and Panipat is expected to be extended until Karnal, further helping property development in these once-dusty semi-agrarian settlements north of Delhi. Self-contained commuter towns such as Jersey City, Newark, Reading and Chiba around New York City, London and Tokyo developed through the past five or six decades, undergirded by dedicated railroad, metro and motorway connectivity that helped de-congest these global financial hubs.

The total length of the rapid train corridor linking Karnal to Delhi will be 103 km, with 17 stations including Murthal Depot Station. Sources told ET that DLF, currently the biggest listed developer in the NCR, also plans to launch plots in Panipat in Q2, FY24.

"The strategic expansion and enhancement of transportation systems, including the extension of metro lines and road and highway projects like DMIC, Dwarka Expressway, CPR, SPR, Pataudi Road Highway and RRTS, have revolutionized connectivity within the region," said Pradeep Aggarwal, Founder & Chairman, Signature Global (India).