Prices of real estate in the surrounding areas of Jewar airport in Noida have nearly doubled in the last three years with property developers vying with one another to pick up land parcels. About 390 acres of land near the Noida International airport, along the Yamuna Expressway, has been snapped up in last 12 months, according to Anarock Property Consultants. The value of these transactions works out to a significant Rs 2,340 crore with an acre going for Rs 5-6 crore.

Several developers including the Purvanchal Group, Eldeco Group, VVIP group, Greenbay Infrastructure have bought land on the Yamuna Expressway and some have already launched housing projects.

The Yamuna Expressway is a 165-kilometer, six-lane expressway in Uttar Pradesh, connecting Greater Noida to Agra. A 750-metre elevated road connects the airport directly to the expressway.  However, the land deals transacted thus far account for a very small 1.5 % of the 25,000‑plus‑acre development pipeline of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA).
With good infrastructure, availability of land and new airport, developers are seeing good opportunities for real estate development near the airport.  The upcoming auctions should throw up more transactions, Mayank Saksena, MD and CEO – land services, Anarock Property Consultants, said.

Industrial and commercial property developers too are looking to launch projects in the area. Foxconn is negotiating 300 acres for an electronics park along the Yamuna Expressway, according to industry sources. Sify Infinit & Jackson has won two data‑centre plots totalling 10 acres . The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) itself is buying 13300-acre agricultural land which it wants to develop and allot it to developers for commercial and industrial projects.

Manoj Gaur, chairman & managing director of the Gaurs Group believes real estate opportunities in the area are good. “Land is available and the infrastructure is good,” he said. Gaurs Group has developed a 250 acre township near the airport.
In fact, Noida and Greater Noida are slowing going out of reach for many with prices at Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per sq ft. “On the Yamuna Expressway you get properties for below Rs 10,000 per sq ft,” Gaur said.

Santhosh Kumar, vice chairman at Anarock Property Consultants observed that with the airport being built, industrial units and ancillary facilities are coming up resulting in opportunities for developers. The Jewar Airport together with the connectivity of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) to this region have already triggered major interest from the hospitality, education  as well as the manufacturing industry, said, Udaivir Anand, managing director at ATS Group.

However, while land prices have doubled, prices of apartment have appreciated by just about 15-20 % in last two years. This is primarily because because people are not living in large numbers in the area.
“People have to travel to Delhi or Noida for their work and there is little incentive for them to live there. People are investing for future,” he said.
 Gaur believes that in time the area will turn into a city with schools, colleges, hospitals and consequently more habitable. The authorities are working on the metro rail and the rapid transit system” he said adding connectivity with Noida, Greater Noida and Delh is good.

The ATS Group is developing a 100 acre township on Yamuna Expressway near the airport and has also sold plots in the project. “The growing businesses over a period of time will ensure substantial growth in the demand for housing as well as commercial activity in this belt,” Anand said.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Government is also planning a massive urban expansion along 56,000 hectares (over 1,38,000 acres) to Noida’s east with five new cities or township projects proposed to take shape over the next decade. The five townships are Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region (DNGIR) or New Noida, Heritage City (also called Raya Urban Centre), New Agra, Tappal-Bajna, and IITGN (Integrated Industrial Township Greater Noida).