Real Estate Gurgaon

The Times of India, the country's biggest-selling English-language newspaper, has adopted a new slogan: "India poised, our time is now".


Despite the hyperbole, what strikes most people when they arrive is the seemingly organised chaos. Cattle roam the capital's poshest avenues and ragged children beg alongside foreign-made cars and glitzy malls.


India's traditional image is overshadowed by strikingly new ones. Today the country is known for call centres and software companies, blotting out older notions of interminable penury or romantic visions of maharajahs.


While jobs are sucked out of Britain and the US to India, the country has gone from begging bowl economy to global giant. But the success of India's hi-tech sector is still to make an impact on the lives of the 360 million people who live on less than ฃ0.50 (Bt35) a day.


There is little doubt the Indian economy is booming. Growth has averaged 8 per cent since 2003, second only to China. According to investment bank Goldman Sachs, the country's young population means India has the potential to grow faster than China in the long term.


There are few better places to illustrate the changing face of India than Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi. Ten years ago Gurgaon was a collection of muddy villages with a population of 30,000. Today it is home to more than 600,000 people, many of whom work in multinationals such as Ericsson, Pepsi, GE, Honda and Nestle, who have headquarters in the suburb.


A thicket of high-rises and cranes towers over 120 hectares of sculpted gardens and Mediterranean-style villas in Gurgaon's new neighbourhood of Nirvana Country. Prospective owners are offered an Indian dream: houses with air conditioners and Italian marble floors, with 24-hour electricity and water. Fenced off and privately guarded, the neighbourhood embodies the sanitised charm of Western suburban life.


It all comes at a cost. House prices in this part of Gurgaon start at 10 billion rupees (Bt8 billion), about 270 times the average Indian's annual income. This has done little to dampen demand. "When we last offered apartments we sold out all 250 in two hours," said Vikram Singh, sales manager with Unitech, the real estate company behind Nirvana. "On sales days it is chaos here. We cannot keep up with the buyers."


Source://nationmultimedia.com