Until about two years ago, every developer worth his salt, was launching township projects. And then came the slowdown. Faced with liquidity crunch, township development proposals were either put on the backburner or those under construction were paused mid-way.

But there are optimist players who say the segment still has huge potential and such integrated projects should be accorded infrastructure status.

Real estate developers point out that township development is crucial to overall development of a city as it improves infrastructure. Bigger township projects have a longer gestation period

and need fund accessibility.

Pradeep Jain, chairman of Parsvnath Developers, which has township projects spread across 10 cities said, “Integrated township development is almost akin to development of special economic zones (SEZs) with complete set of infrastructure facilities. An integrated township and group housing development on an area more than 10 acres, involves provision of residential, educational, medical, community, commercial or institutional buildings and creation of required facilities including roads, water supply, water treatment, sanitation and sewerage systems and solid waste treatment and management systems. Real estate developers need to be given incentives for creating such an infrastructure in the country. Hence, integrated township development should be accorded infrastructure status.”

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has also sought infrastructure status for integrated township development, arguing that these townships were similar in nature to SEZs.

Says Anand Kumar, an independent property consultant, “Some of the bigger real estate players have slowed down the completion of township projects, while smaller companies have either put on hold or totally scrapped their plans, waiting for market sentiments to lift so that they have better access to funds.”

“There are some big companies too, which have alsocancelled projects. But as an integrated project is akin to a small town, there’s no denying that they still will boost development in the area and have great potential going forward,” he told FC Estate.

The concept of townships gained popularity, banking on the “within the four walls” concept, meant to bring together elements that consumers would want within

a specific area — home, workplace, entertainment and shopping, rest and recreation.

Jaypee group had developed the Jaypee Greens Wish Town in Noida, claimed to be the India’s largest township spread over 1,162 acres. “Our township foray is unique as it is an integral part of a large infrastructure project and is located along the expressway connecting Noida to Agra, thereby having an edge in terms of cost and valuation. In fact, Wish Town received an overwhelming response from customers,” claimed Manoj Gaur, executive chairman of Jaiprakash Associates.

Niranjan Hiranandani, chairman of Hirco Group, which recently inaugurated their integrated township in Ahmedabad, said, “Our strategy is to building integrated townships for India’s rising and increasingly affluent middle-class in well-connected suburbs of major cities across the country. Our successful formula is to provide high quality real estate with world class infrastructure.”