Delay in the CSMT-Panvel elevated corridor and Panvel-Virar corridor has got the real estate market in Navi Mumbai worried. Affordability without connectivity is going to be of no help to real estate, they say. According to a recent report, more than 80,000 1bhk flats were launched in Raigad (Navi Mumbai area comprising of Panvel, Kharghar, Khopoli, Taloja, Dronagiri, Karjat, and Neral belt) in last one year. Of these, around 22,000 flats were booked. 2bhk and 1 room kitchen apartments too were high in demand. Haresh Chedda, president of CREDAI-BANM, a real estate body of Navi Mumbai, said that without connectivity affordability has no meaning. "This will turn these estates into ghost towns. People won't stay here if it takes them two to three hour to commute. Also, across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Panvel is the only place that has the scope of growth in terms of affordable homes," said Chedda. Seconding Chedda's opinion, Rajesh Prajapati, former president of CREDAI-MCHI (Raigad unit), said that connectivity is the key to affordability and the delay "is bad for the real estate market". Chedda further claimed that places which are not yet connected will be badly affected because of the delay. He further added that since connectivity issues may pose a big problem for CIDCO, the government body may jump in to rescue. "Railways is a national body, while CIDCO manages at the local level and it knows that how important is connectivity for the real estate industry in this area," he said on a hopeful note. Figures show that prices of apartments in this belt is reasonable compared to the other markets. An average 1bhk in Kharghar-Panvel belt of 484 sq ft costs around Rs58.80 lakh, while in Panvel and surrounding areas, the cost is around Rs 48.40 lakh. If one moves further beyond, the price goes down even more. For example, a 1bhk in Khopoli of 323 sq ft will cost Rs 21.32 lakh, while the same size apartment in Karjat-Neral will cost Rs 18.30 lakh.

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