The expressway will connect Dwarka in Delhi to Gurugram, provide alternate access to the IGI airport, India International Convention Centre and other key locations in Gurugram.
The Dwarka Expressway, which is set to open after a decade-long delay, brings in its wake, new opportunities for the real estate sector. The expressway is the country’s first eight-lane elevated urban expressway, between Dwarka in New Delhi and Gurugram.
According to officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the expressway will connect Dwarka sub-city in the national capital with Kherki Dhaula toll plaza on NH-48 in Gurugram. The Union Minister for Highways and Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari, had in May 2023 inspected the expressway and said the facility would be entirely ready by the end of December. However, the Gurugram section of the expressway is likely to be opened earlier by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, within the next few months.
The starting point in Delhi
The 29-km Dwarka Expressway starts from near Shiv Murti on NH-8 (Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai highway) and ends near Kherki Daula Toll Plaza in Gurugram passing via Dwarka Sector 21, border of Gurugram and Basai village.
According to NHAI officials, nearly 19-km of the controlled-access expressway falls in Haryana while the remaining 10-km falls in Delhi. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 10,000 crore.
Officials say that about 95 percent of the construction work on the Gurugram side of the expressway is complete and it is expected to be opened for vehicular movement in a few months.
Once the expressway is opened, it would provide direct access to the upcoming India International Convention Centre (IICC) in Dwarka sector 25 and will also offer an alternate route to the IGI Airport in New Delhi through a shallow tunnel.
Connectivity
In Delhi, the expressway passes through Dwarka sectors 21 to 28 and will also provide quick access to Vasant Kunj, IGI Airport and Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II). In Gurugram, the expressway passes through new sectors such as 113, 112, 111, 110, 109, 108, 107, 106, 104, 103, 102, 99, 88B, 37D, 36A, 36B etc. It is linked by a grid of roads connecting areas such as Old Gurugram, Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension, Basai, Hero Honda Chowk and Pataudi Road. The expressway will also connect important areas and highways such as NH-8, Rangpuri bypass, Central Peripheral Road and the Southern Peripheral Road.
On the Delhi side, the expressway will also provide quick access to the golf course in Dwarka and a new diplomatic enclave, which is to come up in Dwarka sector 24. Last month, the Union Cabinet approved a metro line to connect new and old Gurugram with an extension to the Dwarka Expressway near Sectors 101-104, further boosting connectivity in the region.
The distance of IGI Airport and Huda City Centre Metro Station from the mid-point of the expressway is around 15 km. Similarly, Ambience Mall and Gurugram Cyber hub are located around 12-13 km from the expressway.
Why you should invest
Once the entire expressway becomes operational, there will be no traffic signal till Vasant Kunj for people residing in sectors along the Dwarka Expressway.
There are over 30 functional schools in the catchment of Dwarka Expressway and a 750-bed hospital is also being developed in the area.
B K Malagi, COO, Experion Developers, said that the development of social amenities such as schools, hospitals, and shopping centres will contribute to the overall liveability of the area. “The increasing urbanisation and economic growth in Delhi and Gurgaon are likely to fuel housing and commercial demand. After the opening of the Dwarka Expressway, we are expecting an appreciation of 15-18 percent in prices across all classes in just one quarter,” he said.
Prakhar Sahay, Co-Founder, Homents Private Limited, a real estate consultancy firm, said that anticipation of opening of Dwarka Expressway has made this area one of the most sought after micro markets of Delhi-NCR as several new projects have come up in the last few years in the region.
Real estate projects
“There were around 125-130 approved projects in 2016-17 but over the years, this number has almost tripled. Currently, there are around 400 approved projects in sectors located around Dwarka Expressway. Of this, over 100 projects are inhabited,” Sahay told Moneycontrol.
While the Delhi side of the upcoming expressway does not have new residential projects, the Gurugram side of the corridor is dotted with a number of such projects. Some of the prominent projects include luxury housing Tata La Vida in sector 113, Elan The Presidential (106), Experion Windchants (112), Sobha City (108-109), Adani M2K (102, 102A), Shapoorji Joyville (102), M3M Capital (113) Godrej Meridien (106), Godrej Grandeur (106), Assotech Blith (99), Hero Homes (104), ATS Kocoon (109) and others. Real estate experts say that realty firms like the Embassy Group and Max Estate are also set to launch their projects in the micro market soon.
How much do housing units cost?
Sahay says current property rates are in the range of Rs 7,000 per square feet to Rs 16,000 per square foot (psf) depending on the project and location. In the last year-and-a-half, there has been a jump of around 10-15 percent in the prices of real estate properties located in the catchment area of the expressway.
Land parcels here are also being sold in the range of Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.75 lakh per square yard. As per a research by ANAROCK, nearly 51,500 units have been launched in the Dwarka Expressway micro-market between 2013 and Q1 2023 across various budget segments.
Sinish Pal Singh, City Head – Gurgaon, ANAROCK, said that while the project has missed many deadlines, it is expected to be inaugurated soon and will inevitably boost the real estate prospects of the area.
“Since its very inception, developers have flocked to grab large land parcels and thereafter launch several housing projects along the upcoming expressway. If all goes as planned, we will see more than 20,300 housing units ready for possession within the next two years in the region. This will eventually help in improving the overall liveability of the region and thus boost its real estate prospects,” Singh said.
Rentals
According to real estate experts, the rentals in the area range between Rs 20,000 per month to Rs 80,000 per month depending on the project, location and size. Rents for standard 2BHK units is around Rs 20,000-Rs 22,000 while it ranges between Rs 25,000 and Rs 35,000 per month for standard 3BHK apartments. However, monthly rentals of luxury 2BHK units range from Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 while for luxury 3BHK units it is between Rs 50,000 and Rs 80,000.
Challenges
Sahay says that the idea of Dwarka Expressway was mooted in 2006-07 but the project failed to take off. Prices of land parcels and projects that soared quickly, fell as quickly when work stopped. Prices of properties located in sectors around the expressway also started going down, touching a low of Rs 5000 psf around 4-5 years back. The prices started picking up only after 2019, when work on the expressway resumed, he says
For a homebuyer like Rahul Tiwari the hike in property prices along the expressway is not very significant. “I bought a flat in sector 109 in 2012 at Rs 8,000 psf but when the expressway project got stuck, property prices came down to around Rs 4,500-Rs 5,000 psf. Now after 2018-19 the prices have again picked up and the current rate of my property is around Rs 9,000 psf. So, for me the hike is not very significant,” Tiwari says.
Source : Money Control