Hear the name Nagpur and the first image your mind conjures up is of oranges. Known as the ‘Orange city’, Nagpur is one of the major trade centres of the fruit in India. The city is also known as the ‘Tiger Capital of India’ due to a number of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks situated in and around it.

The lush green forest carpet attracts many tourists throughout the year. Some famous spots include Tadoba Andhari Tiger Forest, Pench National Park, Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharajbagh zoo, and Sitabuldi Fort.

Industrial hotbed

Nagpur is an important industrial hub with more than 22,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and is one of the fastest growing cities in Maharashtra because of its economic and political power. The current Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hails from the city. It is one of the biggest commercial and trading hubs in the Vidarbha region. Butibori is the largest industrial area in Asia, having two big thermal power stations and includes huge units like Indo Rama Synthetics, KEC, Hyundai, Unitech, and many more. Sitabuldi is the major commercial area of Nagpur.

Infrastructure booster

Nagpur is all prepped up to be the next IT hub, with Infosys and TCS setting up their campuses in Multimodal International Hub Airport (MIHAN) area. MIHAN will serve as a cargo hub, with no-pollution industries being set up, getting a stupendous infrastructure boost; through indirect and direct employment, it will also add 12 million people to the city’s population. Another growth centre for Nagpur will be Butibori five star industrial estate spread over 2,312 hectares adjacent to NH 7 and Nagpur-Mumbai Super Express Highway. The state government is also keen to launch Communication SuperExpressway project that will join Nagpur with country’s financial capital Mumbai. The proposal to set up premier educational institutions like AIIMS and IIM will further increase the demand for quality infrastructure in the city.

All-round expansion

Nagpur is fast expanding to its north-west, north-east and southern regions. Vardhaman Nagar, Pratap Nagar and Surendra Nagar are one of the most sought-after areas with property rates ranging between Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 per sq. ft.A Rs400-crore integrated township ‘Empress City’ is being built and will have a provision for a 400-room 5-star hotel, shopping mall, multiplexes and 600 luxury apartments sized in the range of 1,000 to 1,500 square feet area. Locations like Wardha Road, Civil Lines, Godhani, Manewada, Manish Nagar, and Takali have projects both in affordable and luxury sectors. Average property rates (residential) range between Rs2,100 to Rs5,600 per sq ft, depending on the location. Tata Realty, Mahindra Life Spaces, DLF and SatyamRealities are some of the major realty players. On the commercial real estate segment, a logistics park is coming up on NH 7.

With leading IT firms, management and medical institutions set to spring up in the city; the real estate market will grow at an exponential rate. Nagpur is on major path of change in IT and SEZ segment and will be a growing hub for employment generation in the coming years.

olmdesk@outlookindia.com