Witnessing infrastructural growth in a planned manner, Nashik is emerging as a strong contender in the Make-in-India campaign
The city has come of age. In sequel to the process of giving impetus to industry, agri culture, trade and commerce that started a couple of decades ago, an all new Nashik is taking shape. This holy town has grown from strength to strength transforming itself into a full-fledged industrial city.
To top it all, the city has been included in the list of first 100 Smart Cities to be developed in the country, and the promoters and developers here are pushing the administration to ensure Nashik makes it to the first phase the ambitious programme.
Time and again, Nashik has been pitched as an excelled destination for investment and growth. Factors which make it suitable for futuristic growth are ample.
A new initiative taken by CREDAI-Nashik is that they are promoting reversal of brain-drain.Elaborating on it, Anant Rajegaonkar, immediate past president of CREDAI-Maharashtra, says, “Nashik is taking lead in reverse braindrain. We have lost a lot of potential talent and now the initiative is underway to get it back by shaping the city as a talent hub.“ “By reverse brain-drain, it is meant that an all level intervention is being planned to make Nashik a suitable place for the upcoming talent filled with international universities, research institutes for clinical researches and biotechnology, adds Rajegaonkar.
A fine example of the same is Kumbhathon, a year-round innovation sandbox that has created a platform to identify and address the challenges of the 2015 Kumbh Mela in Nashik, with a broader vision to address similar issues in developing countries across the world. The initiative was conceptualised by Sunil Khandbahale and Dr Ramesh Raskar. This is a movement to impact new ventures and empower digital citizens of India. “Nashik can be the next 'start-up hub' of India, following the footsteps of Bengaluru,“ Rajegaonkar adds. “Nashik has great potential to develop as the `Knowledge city' of this state. The Mumbai-Nashik corridor can be developed as knowledge corridor with a lot innovation based industries coming up in this patch. While also this region is the most fertile for agro-tourism,“ opines Naresh Karda, Director, Karda Constructions.
According to him, Nashik is suitable for an overall growth because its growth is planned.''The Regional Plan (RP) and Development Plan (DP) are both being meticulously chalked out keeping all the verticals concerned in the loop.Since both these plans are under process, it has been noticed that a good network of roads is being planned,“ he says.
The planning is such that all aspects of a livable city are taken care of and population growth upto 2040 can be accomodated. Under the new DP, a dedicated transport corridor, a dedicated bicycle track and river development are on. The administration is taking care that mistakes, which occurred during the planning of other cities like Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, are not repeated here. For instance, the public transport networks in Pune and Bengaluru have never been established, thus leading to a traffic chaos. “Residents in Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad are known to get water via tankers but this `tanker' culture would never be a reality in Nashik, because of the ample of water bodies around the city and good rainfall,“ says Rajegaonkar.
The 2014 Budget had laid out a roadmap to the Prime Minister's vision of developing 100 Smart Cities. Cities along the Delhi-Mumbai Corridor were identified after which Arun Jaitley, Union finance minister, announced that they would be developed as satellite towns of larger cities. “The central government has recently announced a policy, according to which, industries, educational institutes, IT and tourism related activities would be allowed to be operated on green-zone land or even no-development zone. This step has opened gates for the huge amount of locked-up land. Also Nashik has ample of open land, which is supported with good supply of industrial power and water,“ shares Rajegaonkar.
Conversion into a Smart City would attract big IT firms and other industries. As it is, Nashik boasts of a climate which none of its adjoining cities offer. In fact, it has emerged as a weekend destination. People from cities like Mumbai and Pune are looking out for their second homes here. “All the fundamentals for Nashik are very good. Allowing industries to come up on green-land is going to be helpful, and these factors would help Nashik climb up the ladder,“ shares Ashish Katariya, Director, Ashoka Buildcon. “Investments can flow in, but investors need to be given a feeling security when set their foot on the land of Nashik,“ adds Katariya.
According to realty experts, a huge magnitude of construction and ongoing developmental activities show a clear upswing. The real estate market has gained momentum.
Property rates are expected to rise in the next few months. Consequently, a property buyer is now in a win-win situation, as one can surely hope to seal a good deal. Besides property rates going up, there would be an increase in the sale of the stock. This will lead to overall buoyancy. For the homebuyers too, this is an excellent opportunity, as competition would make it a buyers' market.
With people migrating to the city from nearby places in search of jobs, budget homes are slowly gaining ground. The next two years may see a lot of budget homes coming up. This stock is lesser in quantity at present. “Strategic location of the city with abundant water supply has made it one of the most sought after real estate destination, be it in the form of residential or commercial properties. Already there are NRIs or past residents of Nashik who are willing to settle back in Nashik due to its climate,“ opines Shrikant Gayakwad, Director, Shriprakash Developers. The climate here will stay serene due to its presence amidst mountains and the height above sea-level.
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