Hosur

The ‘big city-satellite town’ concept is picking up in India. You live in one and work in the other or vice-versa. Either way you are never too far from home or office. Say, Mumbai-Navi Mumbai, Pune-Pimpri, Delhi-Gurgaon, Delhi-Noida, Baddi-Chandigarh, Dubai-Sharjah, New York-New Jersey…
And now Bangalore-Hosur.
Hosur, the small and relatively unknown town in Tamil Nadu and located 40 km from Bangalore in Karnataka, is touted as the next “dream destination” for companies and their employees working out of the Garden City. Hosur already boasts an over two-decade old industrial zone with manufacturing plants of TVS Motors, Ashok Leyland, Titan Industries, Carborandum Universal and Hindustan Lever.
At present, the biggest roadblock to the development of Hosur as a satellite town is inadequate road connectivity between Bangalore and Hosur. Although IT majors are pushing the Karnataka government to build an expressway between the two places, the state government has so far shown little interest in the project. In fact, the IT majors have reportedly offered to fund the road project.
“We believe Hosur has a huge potential just like Noida, Gurgaon or Navi Mumbai a few years ago,” Mohammed Ali Vakil, Chairman and Managing Director, Vakil Housing Development Corporation, says. “It has got everything Bangalore offers.”
VHDC, a leading real estate development company in Bangalore, has been quick to cash in on the much-anticipated property boom in Hosur. The company has launched Vakil Hosur Hills, its first township project in Hosur, promising customers a place “devoid of pollution, grime, noise and traffic, at a very economical price compared to Bangalore, and with high appreciation potential.”
The company is targeting people working within the vicinity of Hosur Road, a four-lane national highway on the outskirts of Bangalore, such as Electronic City, Infosys and Biocon, for whom commuting from Hosur would be a better option than from Bangalore. “The demand for residential space is directly linked to the demand for commercial space. It is only a matter of time before the need for living spaces is realised and developers flock to Hosur,” Vakil points out.
A study conducted by Vakil Housing Development Corporation found several reasons for the renewed interest in Hosur, in the main, traffic jams, bad roads, high rentals and increasing cost of real estate, and high cost of living in Bangalore.
The Tamil Nadu government has realised the potential of Hosur. The government has declared Hosur as a tier-II IT city like Coimbatore and Madurai, and has announced several ambitious projects for the town. These include: Setting up of Tidel Park by ELCOT; a 3,000-acre SEZ for IT, hardware and precision instruments; and allocation of land to Bangalore-based IT companies to establish their campuses at Hosur, to name a few. Most of these and other projects are proposed to be developed through private-public partnership. It remains to be seen whether these projects get off the ground.
Tamil Nadu is also planning to upgrade infrastructure and civic amenities in Hosur. On the anvil are water supply schemes, a water treatment plant, sewage system, better power supply, schools, hospitals and shopping malls. The government is also contemplating additional FSI on par with building norms in Chennai and Coimbatore.
According to Vakil, in the last decade, capital values have appreciated more than expected and that too from a lower base in places like Noida, Gurgaon or Navi Mumbai, than in adjoining metros like Delhi or Mumbai. He expects the same phenomenon at Hosur as well. “Further, real estate prices in Bangalore and Mysore are already at saturation point, while property prices in Hosur are still very reasonable,” he says.
While Hosur may have all it takes to become a satellite town, are the people of Bangalore willing to move to the new and relatively calmer town? “Hosur provides the best of both worlds — the big city opportunities of Bangalore and the serenity of Hosur,” Vakil adds, optimistically.