For as old a city as Kolkata, it has enjoyed and imbibed many influences down the ages. In the process of its evolution, various parts of the city rose in prominence. Today as Kolkata expands and evolves, new areas are stealing the spotlight from the old as promising realty hubs, boasting of modern lifestyle amenities. EM Bypass and its adjoining areas are fast becoming the new focus areas of development.
The Old Gives Way to the New
In a city where beauty and squalor coexist, Kolkata still shimmers in the glory of its colonial past. With its premium living options, fine dining experiences, and a throbbing cultural scenario, Kolkata continues to remain an awesome good-life destination. But with the city’s spatial expansion around its fringes, things are up for some rapid changes.
EM Bypass as the IT Corridor is The Emerging Face of New Kolkata
If Chowringhee and BBD Bag are the landmarks of the iconic colonial architecture of Kolkata, EM Bypass is the face of new modern Kolkata – the seat of a vibrant and young population, employed in the IT and ITES and the banking sectors.
What was once looked upon by Kolkatans as a mere connecting road from North to South and easy access to Salt Lake, EM Bypass has now become the new lifeline for Kolkata. Giving seamless access to the city’s IT hub in Salt Lake, Rajarhat and Newtown in the East, EM Bypass is divided into 3 stretches – the northern part starts from Chingrighata and connects with east Kolkata to Ultadanga, the central part runs from Chingrighata to Ruby and southern part is from Ruby to Kamalgazi. It is considered the IT corridor of the city.
Main Arterial Road of the City as New Metro Line Projects Near Completion
Greater connectivity is playing a pivotal role is upping the area’s overall pulse. With Metro connectivity from Garia to Airport in Dumdum soon becoming a reality, the stretch of EM Bypass is poised to transform into the main arterial road of the city. Earlier the Metro line between Tollygunge and Esplanade served as the main arterial road that helped in scaling up Park Street as the most prime location in the city.
Booming Realty Prospects
Built to take off the perennial traffic snags on the Gariahat road around the 1980s, the bypass has witnessed improved connectivity and infrastructure and growth in commercial establishments along its stretches since then. These factors have played an important role in ramping up its real estate prospects, with many premium housing complexes, educational institutions, and medical facilities, malls and markets, and restaurants coming up in the area. With so much real estate development and high-end constructions being centred around the area, EM Bypass is fast transforming into a residential hot-spot and an important zone of commercial interest.
Better Housing Opportunities with Advanced Lifestyle Amenities
A continuous surge in prominent retail concentration and various important establishments like hotels and hospitals mark the northern part of EM Bypass. Due to its proximity to the Central Business District of New Town, IT hub in Sector V in Salt Lake, and infrastructural facilities like hospitals like Columbia Asia and Hindusthan Hospital, Sankara Netralaya and AMRI, and hotels like Hyatt Regency, this part of the Bypass has mainly developed into a premium residential zone.
Spotted with lavish hotels like JW Marriott, and ITC Sonar, posh restaurants, prestigious schools, and ease of connectivity with commercial hubs, the central part is an area for the premium segment. However, the MIG (Middle Income Group) customers also have good residential options here.
Upcoming as a healthcare hub, the southern stretch is recognized for many renowned hospitals. With many Malls like Mani Square and Hiland Park, retail concentration has witnessed a spike in recent times, along with affordable and mid-affordable housing.
New Pockets of Real Estate Development
The real estate market has come a long way in Kolkata. And many of the new and promising real estates’ pockets like New Town, Rajarhat, and Madurdaha are nestled along the EM Bypass.
New Town – As one of the first planned satellite cities in West Bengal, experts see this as the new Central Business Districts of Kolkata. The area is poised to witness a spike in commercial and retail development due to the surge in the influx of migrant workforce and growth in demand for housing coupled with its proximity to the other IT hub – Sector V in Salt Lake.
Madurdaha – With the upcoming metro line project that will connect New Garia in the South to Airport in Dumdum along the EM Bypass stretch, Madhurdaha has witnessed a growth in demand in housing, both in affordable and the premium segments. Nearby malls and hospitals and education institutes, added with ease of access to business centres, has made Madurdaha a lucrative real estate destination.
Salt Lake Sector V – Largely a vibrant premium residential area, Salt Lake has access to all civic amenities. With the IT hub at Sector V close by, Salt Lake is a prime choice for those employed in the IT sector, just as it is attractive for businessmen and high placed government officials. Teaming clusters of restaurants are found alongside fine-dining eateries serving up global cuisines. Swanky malls for entertainment needs and new age hospitals for health care facilities within easy reach, make Salt Lake Sector V one of the prospective commercial real estate hubs in Kolkata.
High on Entertainment Quotient with High-End Malls and Restaurants
Ever since the time of its evolution from Calcutta to Kolkata, the development of a particular neighbourhood in the city has often got inextricably tied with the food it delivered. Localities had come to be synonymous with the famous dishes that they served – the Territti Bazaar dumplings, Mughlai Paratha of Esplanade, and the continental (now World) cuisine of Park Street. But that’s changing. With a more young population, employed in the IT and banking sectors with high disposable income, flock the premium housings in the outskirts of the city, EM Bypass is gearing up as the ultimate food destination of Kolkata. Displacing Park Street in variety and choice of global cuisines, the foodscape along this stretch is upbeat.
Local Malls like Hiland Park, Mani Square, Metro Cash And Carry, and Acropolis (on the Kasba connector) house some of the leading eatery and other lifestyle brands in the city, providing high doses of entertainment to the cash-rich millennials.
Emerging Healthcare Hub
When it comes to healthcare facilities, EM Bypass boasts some of the best. The stretch is dotted with reputed and renowned names such as Ruby, Apollo Gleneagles, Fortis, Desun, Medica, Peerless, and RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, to name a few.
With so many hospitals within its vicinity, the EM Bypass has grown as a premium healthcare care hub in the city. The advanced medical facilities meted out by these state-of-the-art hospitals and nursing homes is another good reason that has made EM Bypass the new nerve centre of the city.
Bottom-line
Park Street, Dalhousie, and Esplanade as the old blocks of the city’s business centres have been long replaced by the IT hubs at Newtown and Sector V. The food scene has also shifted to the Bypass stretch, just as the medical facility centres. A vast array of such infrastructural facilities, growing number of commercial establishments along with key government policies and initiatives have helped the real estate to boom in the region, making EM Bypass as a good, if not a better residential and commercial option than even Park Street.
