Bijendra Ahlawat finds that 30 malls may soon go on stream
Faridabad, the leading industrial hub of north India, may not be posing a serious challenge to neighbouring Gurgaon, the millennium city in overall development, but it certainly is trying hard to create a niche in certain ways. This includes emergence as a hot destination for real estate development and investment after Gurgaon and Noida in the NCR.
With several housing projects lined up by private and government builders in the pipeline, the city is likely to undergo a revolution of sorts in the retail marketing and entertainment sectors. While a dozen shopping malls had been under construction, the city is likely to have more than 40 such spots over the next few years. There are two multiplexes in the city at present.
'The first multiplex, thrown open nearly five years ago, is located on the main Mathura road or National Highway 2. It had generated a lot of interest, says Rajkumar, a resident.
He says there had been a huge rush of locals for several months all together until a second mall came up in Sector 12 a year later.
Residents, who hail from middle and upper-middle class, had little choice than to visit New Delhi for shopping and family outing, he claims. Two such spots here had made many young couples hang around in the evenings though a majority of the visitors here had been serious shoppers, due to high-end prices of the products, he says.
However, there had been many, who had found a good alternative to shop for grocery and household articles after the start of super stores at these malls.
They had been claiming that the prices, including those of vegetables, were lower than a traditional shopkeeper. "Shopping for many items in the super stores here has been easy and satisfying," claims Sangeeta, a housewife.
While over 30 malls are in line over the next few years, at least half a dozen are either near completion or under construction. At least three such buildings have applied for the NoC from the fire department of the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad. Three to four malls are likely to be thrown open to public over the next few months, says an official.
According to District Town Planning (DTP) and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) office, 31 sites were allocated by HUDA in these sectors.
Some of them had already been auctioned while others were likely to be sold through this manner in near future. Some of the sectors, which already got a site sanctioned for the malls include sectors 12, 20A, 20B , 31 44 and 47. The two existing multiplexes have been located in Sector 12 and 15A.At least two such spots are nearing completion in Sector 12, the main commercial and institutional sector of the city
About seven sites of the multiplex have been given licence by the department in the R- Zone area where several housing projects are under process by private builders. This zone has been located across the Gurgaon and Agra canals and is closer to Greater Noida in UP.
About three to four applications are under consideration for grant of change of land use (CLU) certificate. HUDA has auctioned about eight such sites in the city during the past four to five years. Three sites, out of these, have been sold over the past six months.
Recently, shopkeepers and traders of Palwal organised a meeting to chalk out a strategy to face the opening of shopping malls, which they believe would eat up their business.
There has been a kind of unrest among small shopkeepers in the region over the mass entry of shopping malls, says a member of the Traders Association of Ballabgarh.
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Bijendra Ahlawat finds that 30 malls may soon go on stream
Faridabad, the leading industrial hub of north India, may not be posing a serious challenge to neighbouring Gurgaon, the millennium city in overall development, but it certainly is trying hard to create a niche in certain ways. This includes emergence as a hot destination for real estate development and investment after Gurgaon and Noida in the NCR.
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