The newly-built Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway has pushed up land prices along its stretches in both villages and towns. Even the rental values have gone up especially in towns like Ramanagaram and Channapatna.
Kishore Chandra, a resident of Ramanagaram, who has five acres of land next to the newly constructed expressway, is planning to convert his agricultural land into plots as the land near the 10-lane expressway project is seeing high appreciation.
Conversion of land
Mr. Chandra, who purchased the land in 1987 and was using it for agricultural purposes, said: “We knew the land value in this area will increase after the expressway project work started in 2018 itself. Now, the time has come and we are already preparing the documents to convert the land into plots apart from constructing a farmhouse here.”
According to president of CREDAI, Bengaluru, Bhaskar T. Nagendrappa, the land value increasing along the Mysuru-Bengaluru expressway comes at a time when real estate is already in an upward cycle after being hit by COVID-19 for two years.
“Bengaluru’s exponential growth, traffic and high pollution levels are also encouraging potential investors to explore the city’s outskirts, especially Channapatna and Ramanagaram, as real estate investment alternative. It is seen that the demand for land has pushed up prices for property along the expressway.”
Apart from the price of agricultural land increasing manifold, the expressway has pushed up real estate value in the towns en route due to the improved connectivity.
Touching ₹1 crore
Srinivasaiah, a resident of Srirangapatna, said, “The cost for an acre near Srirangapatna town was around ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh a decade ago, but now ranges between ₹60 lakh and ₹80 lakh and even ₹1 crore in certain areas.”
He also said that the land in the nearby villages had also become dearer after the expressway came up.
“Many farmers have sold their land as prices started appreciating and returns from agriculture were far from satisfactory. Earlier, due to COVID-19, no one had come to purchase land. But now after the pandemic is over, the demand for land has increased,” he added.
50% escalation
“Wherever highways come up, land value will automatically increase, but when the government acquires the land, we don’t increase prices. Later on, once the road is ready, properties around the expressway will see 50% higher rate,” a official from the Department of Stamps and Registration said.
