Churchgate – Dahanu train service from June 2010
By Ram Parmar, Mumbai Mirror, December 09th, 2009.

The Churchgate – Dahanu EMU train service that was slated to be launched in July 2007 will finally be flagged off in June 2010. This was confirmed by R N Verma, General Manager, Western Railway (WR), while reviewing the project on Tuesday. The new service will use 12 – coach rakes.

Verma inspected the under construction foot – overbridges at Vaitarna and Dahanu and carshed at Virar and said that the widening of tracks between Virar and Vaitarna would accommodate the 12 – coach EMU rakes.

Additional lines are also being laid at stations between Virar and Dahanu. “Due to delay in tendering and execution of civil, electrical and other allied works and shortage of new rakes being manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur, the project has been delayed by two years,” informed Verma.
Earlier, a delegation led by Baliram Jadhav, Palghar MP had met Verma to demand speeding up of the project.

Verma was accompanied by C P Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager, WR, S Mathur, Addl DRM, A K Malhotra, Chief Electrical Manager, WR, P C Sehgal, MD, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation and other senior officials on Tuesday.

Foot - overbridge being built at Dahanu Station

Newer horizons
Boisar is not only a further extension to the suburban city but also a potential investment hotspot.

Shilpa Sachdev, Times of India – Times Property, Mumbai, November 28th, 2009.

Located ahead of Virar, Boisar has witnessed a great demand from consumers across the country.
Considering that an average of nearly 77,000 commuters travel the 63.8 km from Dahanu Road to Mumbai every day in shuttle services via Boisar, there is a lot of untapped demand. The upcoming projects in Boisar have not only received a great response from consumers in the adjoining areas of Virar but also parts of Gujarat in the vicinity.
With a population of around 1.25 lakh people in Boisar and around 10 lakh in the neighboring 10 villages of Boisar, the demand for quality residential property is certainly on a rise. The town already has 8 – 1 0 private hospitals and one government hospital with nine primary schools, 14 nursery schools, four private schools and one high school catering to the needs of existing residents.
There are also plans to extend the Western railway network till Dahanu road, that coupled with changing demographics will create an exciting opportunity for people across the country to invest in Boisar.
The town currently has more than 1500 industrial units with global Corporates like Tata Steel, JSW Steel, BARC, Tarapur power station etc providing employment opportunities for people in Boisar and adjoining areas.
Subhankar Mitra, AVP – Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj says: “There is a significant level of economic activity in Boisar which created more than one lakh jobs over the last decade, thus creating a strong need for housing. There had been no quality supply of residential real estate in this location, leading to a huge demand-supply mismatch. People had to commute for more than an hour each day to reach their workplaces in Boisar.”
Boisar is currently governed by a Gram Panchayat which will soon be converted into a Nagar Palika (a small-scale municipality). At present, the basic infrastructure of road, water supply, etc. is provided by the MIDC. The level of infrastructure is acceptable, considering the size and scale of the town. A Big Bazaar, a standalone multiplex and shopping arcades add to the location’s value and potential as a upcoming residential hub. Healthcare and educational facilities also exist. A 15-coach suburban train on the anvil will be able to handle the existing connectivity shortfall, also making the commute easier.
Mitra shares, “Once the passenger train becomes operational in December, the demand spill-over from the Vasai-Virar region will hit this market. This will result in sustained growth, as Boisar offers a much cleaner and greener environment than most other congested regions in and around Mumbai. Also, it will feature residential properties at prices which would otherwise be unavailable in most other parts of the MMR.”

Speaking on their decision to come up with a project in Boisar and how the place has changed after that, Brotin Banerjee, CEO and MD, Tata Housing says, “Our objective is to empower the Lower Income Group (LIG) with a home along with a community life as a part of Sustainable Integrated Green Development. We want to fulfill their dream of owning a house in a city like Mumbai by offering Smart Value Homes. Our first Shubh Griha Township located at Boisar offers homes from Rs. 3.9 lakh to Rs. 6.74 lakh.”
The Group’s recent launch “New Haven”, an integrated township to be constructed under the Indian Green Building Council, has received a phenomenal response from consumers. The project will provide consumers with a swimming pool, clubhouse and community centre, children’s playground, indoor badminton court, basketball court, jogging track, banquet facilities, landscaped gardens, winding walkways, acupressure paths and much more.

Vilma Cardoz, a Navi Mumbai resident, who has invested in a flat at Boisar says, “I am extremely satisfied with my buying decision. This is my second home. Besides, having born and brought up in Anushakti Nagar, I always wanted a home amidst greenery and Boisar has ample of green spaces that exude peace. The place is also closer to my native place at Baroda. We booked at Rs. 1825 and the prices have already gone up to Rs. 2000. There are special trains from Virar to Boisar and many long-distance trains that connect to the place, so traveling is not much of an issue.”
Agrees another buyer Vijay Chawan, “The affordable prices make it a great option as people with moderate incomes can experience amenities even if the place is far. I have booked a flat here as an investment for my daughter.”
It makes great sense to buy a house in Boisar if one is working in the Palghar-Boisar-Dahanu region. With the increased connectivity, it will also be easier to stay at Boisar and work at Malad or Andheri.
In the near future, Vasai Road will emerge as hub for economic activities, and this area will soon be easily accessible from Boisar. These factors will work symbiotically to enhance the value of property in Boisar many times over in the next few years.

Shashank Rao, Hindustan Times, Mumbai, September 13, 2009

Mumbai’s rail development agency expects to complete work between Virar and Dahanu Road by December – a crucial connection that could fuel growth in a string of townships dotting the city’s northern suburbs.

Once the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is done with this stretch, the Western Railway (WR) can start direct suburban local train services up to Dahanu Road, which will help develop its surrounding areas in Thane district. It would also mean more real estate options for those planning to buy a house in the suburbs as vast tracts of land are still vacant between Virar and Dahanu. As of now, an average of nearly 77000 commuters travel the 63.8 km from Dahanu Road to Mumbai every day in shuttle services via Virar.

Once work on this stretch finishes, the number of people commuting on this route is expected to rise by 6 per cent, following the strengthening of the real estate markets there. “Once this stretch is completed, people now living in Vasai can migrate to places beyond Virar, both to work and to live in cheaper, better houses. This will also reduce congestion in existing areas,” said Prakash Rao, chief PRO, MRVC.

A low-cost housing project is underway at Boisar, a steel industry hub. Kelwe has huge tracts of farmland and beach that employs hundreds in the local fishing industry. Dahanu houses power and ancillary plants, while Palghar has small-scale industries. Work on this stretch has stopped due to the monsoon, but is expected to resume from September-end.

“We are awaiting permission from WR to allow us to restart work on this stretch. Work is expected to be complete by December if everything goes as planned,” said as senior MRVC official on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “Work was stopped due to rain but we are ready to cooperate in every way to get things back on schedule,” said S Gupta, chief PRO, WR. The MRVC’s earlier deadline for the roughly Rs 40-crore project was June, but that has come and gone.

As of now, Electric Multiple Units or local trains, run till Virar, beyond which Diesel Multiple Units or shuttle trains ply. The width between tracks for local trains is about 12 ft while that beyond Virar is 10 ft. This gap has to be widened apart from constructing new platforms, roofs and other infrastructure. Local trains are faster than diesel-run shuttle services.

- Nilima Phatak, Freelance Writer (New Delhi)

Having drawn the global spotlight with the launch of the world’s cheapest car (the Nano is priced just over $2,000). India’s Tata Group knows a thing or two about making things affordable. The same operational gameplan in now being adopted for its real estate exposure. Tata Housing Development Co. is putting its mite behind Shubh Griha, an integrated housing estate where one-bed-room units are priced between Rs.390,000 and Rs.670,000 It is located in Boisar, about 100 kilometers from Mumbai. These are rates that leading developers would not have given a fleet thought to in the past. But Tata seems to have hit the right notes with its new project – on the first two days of bookings opening last month, over 3,500 applications were sold. This being more than three times the number of apartments being built for the project, allotments will be done through a lottery.

In all, 1,240 units will be built on the 67-acre township, and will be available in three configurations – 283, 360, 465 square feet.

Mortgage options

Tata – which is expecting a turnover of Rs. 1 billion from the development – has partnered Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC), State bank of India (SBI) and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) to help buyers with financing options. The application forms have been sold at Rs. 200 and the initial booking amount is Rs. 10,000. “The MHFC loans will be long-term micro-mortgages for need-based housing, we intend being flexible in our documentation and the interest rates charged will be affordable,” states Brotin Banerjee, Tata Housing’s Managing Director and CEO.

“Our policy is different – we are not for profit.”

Low-cost venture

“All this is in continuation of the group’s commitment towards quality living for the masses. We observed that since most people in the low-income bracket live away from their families in order to earn a livelihood in the big cities, there is a large migrant population living in rented.”

Tata’s feasibility studies show that about 48 per cent in the low-income segment currently stay in rented places. The low-cost housing venture is thus seen by the developer as a means to empower this section of the society by providing the opportunity to own a house in Mumbai.

It will be followed by similar constructions across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, with Delhi-NCR and Bangalore on top of the list.

The Shubh Griha Project

The Shubh Griha project to be delivered in two years, will have one-bedroom units priced between Rs. 390,000 and Rs.670,000. The dwellings will be built under the guidance of the Indian Green Building Council. Official statistics show that India faces a shortage of 24.7 million dwelling units, with more than 70 per cent of this among the middle and low-income groups. But actual shortages could be much more. Mortgage penetration is still only about 7 per cent of India’s GDP which is considerably lower than the 10 to 50 per cent recorded in other Asian countries and 80 per cent in the US.