The Future of Salt Lake Sector V as an Excellent Business District

Rita’s first reaction when she came to know that her MNC has transferred her to Kolkata, was to pass over the opportunity. But the transfer came with its own perks of a better position and higher salary. She forced herself to swallow the bitter pill and prepared to make the City of Joy her new home.

Rita, however, was in for a surprise as she travelled to her new office in Salt Lake Sector V. The place was the polar opposite to what she had in mind. Clean, broad roads greeted her. Parks, open spaces, and water bodies amply spotted a peaceful environment. Community centres were seen at strategic places. This business hub was pulsating with life. It was not difficult for Rita to gel in with the crowd here and soon she was calling Salt Lake her home.

Rita is not alone. For many years now, Salt Lake Sector V has been emerging as a popular business and retail destination in Kolkata. Built on a reclaimed saltwater lake, Salt Lake, or Bidhan Nagar, as this area is also called, is the new hub for several leading IT, banking, and pharmaceutical companies. With the insurgence of the migrant workforce for employment in these companies, residential properties in the nearby areas of Salt Lake Sector V have seen a growth in demand and the area now has an abundance of housing and rental options in mid-level to prime price brackets. In fact, this Salt Lake Sector V is growing at a very fast pace, well on its to expand into New Town, West Bengal’s only “smart city” urban centre and another upcoming business hub in the vicinity.

Let’s explore some of the reasons behind this expansion of Salt Lake Sector V over the last decade.

Salt Lake Sector V Gears up for Better Connectivity with New Infrastructure Developments

The two metro rail projects – Kolkata – East-West Metro Corridor (a small stretch from Salt Lake Sector-V to Salt Lake Stadium has already been opened for commuters) and the other upcoming Airport – Garia Metro project will boost connectivity from Salt Lake Sector V to other parts of Kolkata. The Metro line will connect Salt Lake Sector V with Howrah Maidan and Sealdah – Kolkata’s two railway stations. The upcoming Metro route will also connect the area with the other Central Business District (CBD) of the city – Dalhousie Square.

With the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at 13 kilometres from Sector V and the Bidhannagar Road Railway Station nearby, in addition to improved public transportation like well-connected air-conditioned bus services, make commuting from Salt Lake fast and convenient. The Eastern Metropolitan Bypass that runs along the eastern fringes of the city also serves as a great connecting avenue to Sector V.

With Dalhousie Square Saturated, Businesses Find New Alternative at Salt Lake Sector V

With the beautiful water body — Lal Dighi — at the centre, Dalhousie Square (which is also known as BBD Bagh, named after the 3 famous Bengali freedom fighters) is the original and iconic CBD of Kolkata for the last three centuries. Beyond the clanking tram lines that circumvent the area, stand a slew of archaic buildings – a relic zone of British Architecture, today, houses numerous offices. This area throbs with office going crowd on working days as thousands throng this premise daily from several parts of the city and suburbs.

However, as Kolkata expands and gradually takes on a more modern outlook, its 300-year-old CBD struggles to hold on to its past glory. Though centrally located, Dalhousie Square remains saturated today, with poor infrastructure and no modern facilities. It loses its old sheen as more and more businesses set up their second offices in Salt Lake Sector V or New Town, looking for better and modern facilities. Dalhousie Square offers very little opportunity to redevelop into service sector’s requirement of large offices. Moreover, the price per sq. ft. is exorbitantly high in comparison with Salt Lake Sector V.

Salt Lake Sector V, with its immense support infrastructure and improved connectivity has gradually evolved to become a thriving business hot-spot of the city. Modern amenities abound in the area in the form of better parking facilities, connectivity, and other infrastructural support from the government.

Well Positioned to Provide Easy Access to IT Hubs and Other Business Centres

Numerous IT offices have come up in Salt Lake Sector V over the years. With IT companies like Wipro, TCS, Accenture, IBM, Tech Mahindra, Genpact, HCL Technologies, NIIT Technologies, Siemens, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Capgemini, Deloitte and Lexmark opening their branches in Sector V, Salt Lake and its and surrounding areas have become the prime residential choice of migrant IT professionals and temporary residents as well as business travellers.

Competitively Priced Rentals and Attractive Pricing for Properties

The surging number of the migrant workforce employed in these companies is driving up demand for mid-level to luxury residential and rentals. The demand for properties for co-living spaces and PG accommodations have also gone up in the area. It is a good time to invest in a property here while the demand is on the rise.

In recent years, residential price indices of this micro-market have witnessed a significant spike and experts predict a good ROI for those invested in the market.

With time, it is expected that Sector V in Salt Lake will converge with the other upcoming CBD of the city – New Town. When that happens, the property market in the area, with its proximity to New Town will witness further growth.

Offer High Liveability Quotient with Advanced Lifestyle Amenities

With easy access to a slew of modern civic amenities, Salt Lake Sector V has come to be a lively, premium residential area. Apart from the IT professionals who look for housings and rentals in the area, Salt Lake Sector V is an attractive choice for high placed government officials and businessmen.

With facilities like 24×7 security, access to advanced health care facilities like Apollo Gleneagles, AMRI, Columbia Asia, and leading academic institutions such as International School of Business and Media, Institute of Engineering and Management, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata and Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, the area boasts of supreme convenience along with a warm sense of community.

High on Entertainment Quotient – Conducive to Millennial Lifestyle

The number of high-end restaurants competes with branded fine-dining eateries in the swanky malls of the area. Serving up global cuisines, the presence of these eating houses makes Salt Lake Sector V the ultimate food destination of Kolkata among the millennials with high disposable income. With glitzy multiplexes and malls strewn with cafes and lifestyle brands, finding entertainment here is easy. Modern hospitals provide advanced health care facilities and greener environment dotted with parks and water bodies, and community centres within easy reach have transformed Salt Lake Sector V as one of the prospective real estate hubs and modern CBD of Kolkata, nudging out an ill-facilitated and over-crowded Dalhousie.

Brighter Future with Substantial Prospects of Expansion

Salt Lake Sector V faces the imminent possibility of expanding into New Town, the other urban area with all civic amenities touted as the next upcoming CBD of the city. If Sector V were to merge with this “smart” satellite township in the near future, which looks almost inevitable, with rapid urbanisation and further industrialisation, the real estate demand in the area will see robust growth. As housing and rental demand rise due to the availability of modern lifestyle amenities and other support infrastructure in Salt Lake Sector V, property prices here will only move north in the coming years.