Hosur may be located in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, but it is a town that has cashed in on the growth story of a rapidly expanding Bangalore. The bustling town, located 40 km south of Karnataka?s capital city and half that distance from Electronics City, which is home to a few hundred software companies, including Infosys, grabbed the opportunity early and is now poised to capitalise on the spillover from Bangalore that has been literally pushing its limits over the past few years.
This proximity, helped by the fact that the town of around 2.4 lakh people, sits on the national highway connecting Bangalore to the Tamil Nadu cities of Salem and Coimbatore besides Chennai, gives it the edge to attract new investments on its own steam. While an IT Special Economic Zone has come up in Hosur over the past couple of years, a separate multi-product SEZ is in the works.
Hosur first emerged on the industrial map in the early 80s when the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) established an industrial complex that became home to the likes of Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor and Titan Industries. In recent years, real estate developers have ventured into Hosur in an attempt to tap potential for housing. ?We saw a dearth when we set up our project and we have been able to meet the aspiration levels in and around Hosur. It is a strategic location, which has access to good schools and healthcare facilities in south Bangalore. That has made real estate in Hosur really attractive,? says HR Girish, CEO of Vakil Housing Development, which was an early mover in this space by launching a gated community of 300-plus villas. The town is well placed to grow if the efforts at improving infrastructure are continued, Girish adds.
It isn?t just Hosur that is seeing promise. Over the past few years, the Karnataka side of the border has been growing at a fast clip with residential projects dotting the IT corridor that stretches in an arc from Electronics City in the south to Whitefield in the east. Of late, Bangalore city?s northern and western localities have been seeing rapid growth, largely on the prospects of better connectivity to the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli, located 36 km north of the city centre. An elevated expressway to the airport from Bangalore city is under construction, while a high-speed rail link has been proposed.
According to a Knight Frank report in May, Bangalore witnessed the launch of around 35,500 residential units during 2012 and the first quarter of 2013 added another 8,000, most of it in the city?s northern and western regions.
Bangalore city?s population is around 8.7 million according to the 2011 Census.
The pace of growth isn?t surprising, considering that the Bangalore municipal authority, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), covers an area of 800 sq km as against 225 sq km in 2006. The expansion had brought in several outlying areas into the city fold. The Karnataka government last week said plans are afoot to create 76,740 housing plots in newly formed layouts in addition to its target of completing at least 6,500 flats by 2014 to meet the demand for housing. Earlier this month, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said the government plans to complete a 65 km stretch of road that would circle Bangalore city?s periphery. In addition, the Karnataka government expects to get central clearance for the R26,405-crore second phase of the Bangalore Metro shortly, which would help connect outlying localities and the IT corridors. In its first phase, which is under construction, the Metro is planned to run a total length of 42.3 km along two corridors that criss-cross each other at the heart of the city. So far, the first line of 6.5 km is operational and a second line of 10.5 km is set to open by October.