“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi Integrated townships are the next big thing in the Indian real estate sector since land prices have peaked in major metro cities and with basic infrastructure struggling to cope up with rising populations, developers are building cities away from the metros to provide contemporary lifestyles in Tier II and III cities and towns. Integrated townships are coming up in all segments, ranging from low-cost to high-end formats and in times to come, integrated townships could well be the answer to India’s urban habitat problems.

To counter the growing congestion in metros, the government is promoting many cities and towns that are close to the major metros. Towns in Haryana are foremost amongst them and are fast emerging as future satellite townships with most of the new developments taking place at strategic locations with easier access and proximity to New Delhi. Karnal, for example being located midway between New Delhi and Chandigarh on the Grand Trunk Road, enjoys the status of a Tier II city with the potential to also emerge as the State capital of Haryana.

Another big draw for our 3 townships in Haryana are the eco-friendly practices adopted by us in these townships namely, Alpha International City in Karnal, Fatehabad and Kurukshetra. These practices would optimise the performance of each township, while preserving and protecting important resources like water, land and energy. This is accomplished through an integrated approach to architecture, blending design issues, energy-efficient materials, construction techniques, effective building systems and taking advantage of renewable energy supplies. Eco-friendly practices are a must for every phase of the construction project, from the planning stages to completion.

The concept of living in integrated township seems to have caught on in a big way. The people in Tier II and III cities and towns aspire to have a world-class lifestyle with accompanying comforts. Our 3 integrated townships, Alpha International City (AIC), in Karnal, Fatehabad and Kurukshetra are world-class development projects, and among the first such developments by any real estate developer in the country in a Tier-II or III city or town. These 3 integrated townships are planned towards providing a metropolitan environment to buyers and are backed by infrastructure that goes well beyond the minimum requirements prescribed by local bylaws.  We have laid down infrastructure aimed at ensuring that the facilities are fully compliant with plans at the time of possession. Designed to integrate all the comforts, amenities and infrastructure prerequisites of an international urban lifestyle, these townships offer the ideal environment for modern homes with all the joys of living. Everything that the residents may require will be close at hand, sometimes within walking distance.

 The outstanding feature of each of the 3 Alpha International Cities is their respective locations. Each township is located amidst verdant surroundings with abundant tree cover and ground water, thereby providing the ideal environment for healthy and pollution-free living. Safety and security to the inhabitants along with provision of high quality, world-class education and healthcare facilities are top priorities in each Alpha International City, besides designated police and fire stations.
 
 The healthy and secure social infrastructure will provide a unique way of life to the inhabitants, including facilities that encourage sports, besides safe play areas for children. To top it, the ‘Alpha Life Club’ will be the hub of activity in each township besides facilitating and sustaining the spirit of bonhomie and mutual cooperation among residents.

 

Alpha G:Corp’s blog, Alpha Connect is a timely innovation by a forward looking developer to connect transparently and in an interactive manner with wider audiences when the industry across the globe has suffered. Alpha Connect has news, information and one-to-one advice for visitors and bloggers by way of insightful posts and advice authored by the Alpha team who has a well documented, collective experience and unique work culture in the industry that is often recognized and appreciated.

Alpha G:Corp’s endeavor is in sync with their aim to consistently introduce to India real estate development practices comparable with the best in the world in terms of professionalism and corporate culture. Alpha Connect is an ideal platform for the company to share their experiences, values and perspectives on everything that touches the Indian real estate industry, while also offering concrete and valuable advice and intelligence to netizens on the best practices to follow in their individual real estate transactions. Visitors can read and rate the posts, participate in discussions, leave comments, share their ideas and concerns, and also seek timely one-to-one advice to safeguard and transact their individual deals.

Mr. SK Sayal, Director & CEO, Alpha G:Corp Development Private Limited stated, “For those in our industry who believe that real estate will again become a sellers’ market, it is time to wake up and do a reality check.  The need of the hour is a fresh outlook on corporate communication and accountability by developers. Our collective culture at Alpha G:Corp has always been oriented towards giving impetus to this outlook of win-win relationships between the company and customers. The effectiveness of Alpha Connect is that it makes the engagement process with our customers and audiences that much more interactive, dynamic and mutually rewarding.”

Alpha G:Corp is one of the fastest growing professional companies in the Indian real estate industry with 100% FDI compliant projects spread across the country namely, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Delhi NCR, Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Goa, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Jaipur and Meerut. These developments encompass an area of more than 30 million square feet and have a financial outlay of Rs. 4000 crores. The company undertakes projects through acquisitions, joint ventures as well as real estate asset management (REAM). Channeling services through these specific models streamlines the processes and systems and enables the company to achieve its timelines and commitments with professionalism and transparency in all transactions. Case in point: To ensure high levels of transparency and expediency, each project of Alpha G:Corp has a separate designated bank account meant for all expenses and profits of that project alone. 

It is this work culture and ethic that Alpha G:Corp aims to share with all visitors on the blog, while also setting benchmarks for others to imbibe. The blog designed and managed by iStrat is dynamically designed and aligned to achieve each of Alpha’s objectives of having open and clear channels of communication with their target audiences as well as the public at large. iStrat is based in New Delhi with international marketing offices in Australia and the USA and has been a business leader in new media and digital marketing for over a decade. They have also managed Alpha G:Corp’s web presence since the company’s inception.

“When iStrat put the proposal of a corporate blog to us, we saw the value of this media in achieving our business and social objective of being providing the best solutions in all areas of real estate in a responsible and responsive manner. With real estate development being the focal point of all our thoughts, concepts and achievements, this was most appropriate. It is no secret that the real estate business in India still lacks transparency. But Alpha G:Corp on its part has consistently worked in a transparent manner to connect in a wholesome manner with customers, while also in the process increasing the trust level in the industry itself. Alpha Connect is another definite step in fostering clear and mutually profitable communication with those seeking intelligence about our developments, values, objectives and real estate matters in general,” elaborated Mr. Prodipta Sen, VP, Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Alpha G:Corp.

Accolades: At the inaugural Realty Plus Excellence Awards 2009 in New Delhi, Alpha G:Corp was awarded the ‘Emerging Developer of the Year’. Similarly, their City Centre Development, AlphaOne in Amritsar was awarded ‘Highly Commended with Seal of Distinction’ in the Best Mixed Use Development at the Cityscape Asia Real Estate Awards 2009 held at Singapore. In 2008, Alpha G:Corp’s Golf View Corporate Towers, Ernst & Young’s Corporate Office, was certified ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best Developer – Commercial/Office (Built) Category at the Cityscape Asia Real Estate Awards 2008 held at Singapore, and GurgaonOne, their first premium eco-friendly 10-acre residential habitat, was Semi-finalist in the Sustainable Projects Category at the Asia Pacific Real Estate Awards, 2008 in Shanghai.

“Alpha G:Corp has a proven track record of going the extra mile to ensure a higher level of customer service. They are also the first real estate major in India to have a corporate blog. With a modern and forward looking outlook and so many satisfied customers it makes sense for them to share the collective intelligence of their team and engage with their audiences through this highly interactive medium. In a short span of 3 weeks Alpha Connect has already received 1300 visitors,” shared Ms. Sonya Sahni, Co-founder and Marketing Head of iStrat. The informative posts on the blog currently are on Affordable Housing, Human Resources, Retail, Industry Developments, 2009 Elections, Customer Relations, Sustainable Real Estate Business Models, Changing Lifestyles, Upcoming Megapolises, Awards & Felicitations, Facility Management, among others.

Alpha G:Corp actively encourages its customers and constituents to expect the finest in every aspect of the complex business of real estate development, be it the appointment of architect, choice of material or the execution. All processes follow the company’s collective sensibility and commitment to excellence.

UTV-i spoke with Mr. Prodipta Sen , Co-Founder & Vice President, Alpha G: Corp when he was invited as a panellist on their show ‘Where is my Home? Reality hits Realty’. The stream of the show covered the areas of the perceived difference in customer relations practices adopted by national developers versus local developers, and also the region specific variation in practices in this regard between North and South India.

Alpha International City Kurukshetra

Is Affordable housing still a dream or a reality? Affordable housing can be a reality if the government and developers are sincere in their intent to meet the huge unmet demand for affordable housing. The margins in this category are not as lucrative as the premium segment, which in any case has witnessed an oversupply. With the slow down and recession, the prices in the premium segment fell to almost 50% in one year. This resulted in a vacuum and informed investors acknowledge that the buzzword today is ‘Affordable Housing’ -- a vision of housing every family in the country.

Added to this most sustainable trend, the resurrection of investors seems imminent which we as developers will precipitate along with financial institutions and banks that are now actively encouraging low interest rates on affordable housing.

The question is how to best realize the potential?
Part of the infrastructure in the NCR is being built to decongest the city road network by way of expressways, which should be further encouraged by enabling and facilitating large and mass habitats along these expressways where cheap land could be made available by the Public Enterprise. Within that initiative, Private Developers could be encouraged through Private Public Partnership (PPT) to build affordable housing where the general populace could live and use rapid transport systems to travel to work.Mass scale housing for the general population is the need of the hour for initiating and sustaining inclusive growth. This will also help clean the environment of cities that are bursting at their seams. As a consequence of such increased infrastructure and development there will be an automatic expansion of Megapolises that will envelop several tier 2 and 3 towns in their growth. Further, the cost effectiveness or affordability factor will contribute to the increased attraction of these suburban areas.

The thrust to build such mass habitats will also call for innovative methods of construction by using newer energy efficient environment friendly material with technologies that are not only affordable but also qualitatively durable. Besides, these modern innovations are efficient in terms of deliveries and simple to complete through the use of pre-fabricated ready-to-use material.

Many of the developers in the surrounding outskirts of metros have announced affordable housing in the range of Rs.5 Lacs to about Rs.15 Lacs for 1 to 2 BHK units. Some even have provided 3 BHK units at prices of Rs.18 to 20 Lacs. In addition to the initiatives by the developers, the government should also consider tax sops including cuts in duties and levies on every completed affordable housing project that meets with the requirement in terms of accountable deliverables.

Of course the slowdown will probably continue for some time to come but with the second successive fiscal stimulus by the government coupled with the buoyancy to build affordable housing, will help to realise the dreams of many a common man of finally owning a house.

As a company that has gladly taken the responsibility of setting new benchmarks in work culture, transparency and most importantly, delivering world-class developments across the country, we at Alpha G:Corp actively encourage our customers and constituents to ‘Expect the finest’ of us in every aspect of real estate development. The core team at Alpha G:Corp has a proven track record for excellence spanning more than 30 years, a fact that is regularly appreciated and documented. Reliability and transparency have been our strongest brand attributes in this long and rewarding journey.

With real estate development being the focal point of all our thoughts, concepts and achievement, we have a far reaching vision: Aspiring to be internationally acclaimed as a socially responsible company providing complete solutions in all areas of Real Estate Development.

Therefore, whether it is the acquisition of land, appointment of the architecture firm, the choice of materials or the execution of a marketing plan -- all processes follow the collective sensibility of the will to excel and the ability to inspire confidence amongst the entire team of the company. We derive our collective intelligence from the experience and expertise of our core team. Since we formed Alpha G:Corp in 2003, the team has firmly established Alpha G:Corp among the fastest growing professionally managed companies in the Indian real estate industry with projects spread across the country.

The Alpha team has over the years built landmark buildings like The Great Eastern Plaza and The Great Eastern Centre in New Delhi; The Motorola Centre for Excellence, the high-ranking eco-friendly residential complex, GurgaonOne, state-of-the-art commercial building, Golf View Corporate Towers and also Central Park-1 in Gurgaon.

Our long term philosophy is to deliver products that stand the test of time – and to build relationships that endure. To ensure that we deliver the finest, every blueprint is subjected to a vigorous line of questioning:
• Is it contemporary, world-class, practical and pleasing to the eye?
• Is space being used as it should and is it in sync with the environment?
• Does it pass the test of legal due diligence?
• Is it a fusion of form & function and is each aspect in place?
• Would every brick, girder and slab measure up to exceptional customer value while reflecting global best practices?

Furthermore, we like going the extra mile to ensure a higher level of customer service. We go beyond the project even after it is ‘sold’ because for us, the human element of our interactions with customers remains alive. Our 100% subsidiary – Alpha G:Corp Management Services Private Limited, manages and services all developments after hand-over to the buyers or tenants, who I am proud to say have been overjoyed by our efforts.

We continue to invest in building competitive advantages. The team is focusing on building critical management processes that will enable us to surpass our own high standards while delivering world-class projects and services with optimum scalability. It is a matter of gratification for us to have consistently received several prestigious awards, recognizing our excellent work, at both national and international forums.

Today, as I sit and pen my thoughts for ‘Alpha Connect’, I feel a sense of quiet determination that all the good work that has resulted in the accolades and success for us must be sustained and enhanced in a new rapidly transforming scenario where value addition will be at the root of success stories in our business – a fact that I warmly welcome by asking you to continue to “Expect the finest” of us.