Realty glitters in the diamond city. The real estate sector in Surat has witnessed a 100 percent growth in the past two years, aided by various factors such as vertical development, business opportunities, and the influx of people from other places.
Growth Drivers
Om Ahuja, CEO-residential services at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India, stated, "In cities like Surat, the growth is directly related to increased income of people. High income has also spawned more nuclear families."
Tarun Rawal, Chairman of CREDAI, Surat, explained, "Ongoing development of mass transport infrastructure and planned town planning schemes in the city has given confidence to people to consider faraway places to live. Hence, small sector projects—1,500 sq ft houses—have gained a foothold in the city."
Regulatory Improvements
Surat was the only city where people used to buy and sell properties without documents, but now awareness is growing. "Now small units have started to come up in huge numbers," said Harshil Daliwala of SNS Builders.
City Expansion
The city is estimated to be spread over an area of 326 sq km. It could further expand by another 200 sq km. "There is a plan to convert Surat-Navsari into twin cities which will together have a population of 1.15 crore people," Jivan Patel, Director of Planning at Surat Municipal Corporation, said.