Logistics of achche din for Bathinda realty?

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Abysmally poor sale of properties and drop in prices for over two years has made the going tough for all major developers in Bathinda. With massive correction of up to 40 per cent many investors have burnt their fingers in property deals finalised about five years back. With investors counting their losses and end user waiting for the market to bottom out further, the colonisers as well as property dealers are in a spot in this city. Construction activity in a number of new projects planned in the city and its periphery has been virtually non-existent as the colonisers have no money and no buyers to go ahead and complete the projects. The real estate bubble that had resulted after the setting up of Rs 21,500 crore Guru Gobind Singh Oil refinery here in the hope of a spike in demand for residential and commercial properties has burst dashing the hopes of investors and developers.   

“While residents of Tagore Nagar, Shakti Nagar (Amrik Singh Road and Vishal Nagar continue to hold on to their plots in the price range of Rs 30,000- Rs 40,000 per square yard, investors in Omaxe City, Sushant City Phase I and II and the controversy-ridden Pearls City seen a massive drop in the value of their properties”, says Sanjiv Bansal of Bansal Properties.  

Desperation is the ruling sentiment in property market here as the sale of flats in a majority of projects in the city is at an all-time low. 

With buyers in the region preferring independent houses and plots over apartments, projects that offered 2 and 3 BHK flats have been the worst hit. Rakesh Bansal of Maa Luxmi Property Advisors, says, “Flats all over the city,  including three bedroom accommodation developed by the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) at Capt Amarinder Singh Nagar on Goniana Road ( Rs 28 lakh) and Balaram Nagar ( Rs 21-22 lakh) have no takers”.

While apartments in DD Towers did good business in the first phase, sale here  has suffered a setback because of the flyover on the Dabwali Road. The sale of flats in Ganpati Towers has also been adversely affected. However, Green City being developed by a private developer has elicited good response mainly because of open green area and the proposed development of Phase IV and V of the Model Town by the administration.

However, the poor property sale and price appreciation record has not stopped the “flow” of big-ticket infrastructure projects in the Bathinda region. Such seemingly lucrative projects have always raised the hopes of a revival in the real estate market here. So,  holding a ray of hope in the current grim scenario is the Bathinda Development Authority’s (BDA) Logistic Park project that would help traders in storage of their accessories and goods.

The Logistic Park willoffer storage space to major traders in different fields,  including hardware, electrical, sanitary, home decor, kitchen ware and toiletries besides several other products.

The pollution-free venture will have no space for bio-degradable products including the food processing units. The state initiative has attracted more than 75 applications already for 128 plots on offer. The draw of lots for plot allocation is scheduled for August 23.

The biggest advantage that this logistic park will offer will be the time saved while shifting goods. 

The project report for the 35-acre venture, on the Bathinda-Dabwali road, has been approved. It will be carried forward in 80:20 ratio where the bulk share of investment will come from the private entrepreneurs. The report states that  80 per cent of the notional value of the project will be borne by the private agency in an escrow account (special account). The project is being executed by the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA).

The property allocated on freehold basis will come at a cost of Rs 70,000 per square yard for the storage areas. Located 6-7 km on the Jodhpur-Romana portion of the Bathinda Dabwali highway,

The venue has been identified as suitable for handling heavy regional Rajasthan-Haryana traffic for vehicles as well as good storage. The biggest plots for goods storage at the site have been marked at 1,500 square yard while the smallest will be 250 square yard.

BDA has transferred all  property for allocation after granting clearances. None of the plots on offer is under any litigation.

Confirming the development, Chief Administrator of the BDA, Anil Garg says , “The government has planned to set up organised storage venue instead of the current arrangement of haphazard facilities which often impact life in the entire neighbourhood. This project is different from the one announced by Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari at the national level. The project will have storage sites for goods, including engineering, electrical, housing and others. The pollution free venture has no site for food processing ventures”.

Gulzar Singh Dhindsa, a BDA Town Planning expert, says, “The project, naturally involves manpower, which will need food and place to rest. A special labour welfare centre will have adequate resting space for the staff and the drivers.”  Sites at the commercial sites providing space mainly for food and other refreshments will be made available at a cost of Rs 10,000 per square yard.

Even though Bathinda’s experience with the oil refinery, big educational institutions and thermal plant has not been a favourable one with regard to the real estate sector, the logistic park project seems to have once again revived the hopes of better days. How far this will work out, only time will tell.

Logistic Parks at the national level

The project at Bathinda  forms a part of the first phase of the Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme (LEEP). 

The Centre proposes to develop as many as 15 multimodal logistics parks at the national level as per a proposal of the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari. The proposed sites from Punjab included Amritsar, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Patiala.

The government is concentrating mainly on reducing the transport charges of goods by at least 10 per cent. The four components of the Logistic Park included: freight aggregation and distribution, multimodal freight movement, storage and warehousing, and value-added services such as custom clearances.

As per the original idea, this park is expected to form a multi-modal company (MMC) to manage the development of logistic parks with representation from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Indian Railways, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Indian Ports Association (IPA). 

The company will make partnerships also with related government entities,  including the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation and the Container Corporation of India Ltd.

The locations shortlisted on the list included: Delhi NCR (Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida); Mumbai (Mumbai, Mumbai suburbs, JNPT, Mumbai ports, Raigad district); north Gujarat (Ahmedabad and Vadodara); south Gujarat (Surat and Bharuch); Hyderabad; Jaipur; Kandla; Bangalore; Pune; Vijayawada; Cochin; Chennai and Nagpur.