Bangalore Travel Guide

Transportation : Road, Rail and Airport.


Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka, is a veritable melting pot of various races and cultures. This Garden City has well - laid out parks, gardens, long avenues of blossoming trees and salubrious climate. Emerging as the hi-tech capital of India, it still retains a charm that is totally Indian. Founded in 1537 by a local Chieftain Kempe Gowda, Bangalore has changed dramatically over the years. 
There are numerous 'not-to-be-missed' sights in Bangalore like the magnificent Vidhana Soudha, sprawling Cubbon Park. Colourful Lalbagh etc. - and the convenient an exciting way to explore these sights is to take the KSTDC conducted Bangalore Sight-seeing tour. 

Bangalore -"Garden City...Silicon Valley ofIndia...Fastest growing city in SE Asia...A place to come back home...Mini Subcontinent"
Founded by KEMPE GOWDA more than400 years ago, Bangalore is special in every respect - a SalubriousClimate, Beautiful parks, Avenues, Old and New Buildings, Museum, Theatre, above all theCultured People - a standing testimony for Secular INDIA. 

An air-conditioned city, a garden city, the Silicon Valley of India, the fastest developing city in the world, these are some of the attributes used to describe this beautiful city which has a lot to offer you. 

A dynamic Happening city, with innumerable cultural events organized every evening, you can choose from a Hindustan vocal concert, of a Carnatic Veena recital, or fusion music to pure western classical music, a play, or an exhibition of a famous painter. 

You can taste of Bangalore. But the connoisseur can take his pick from any of the multicuisine restaurants of the city, Bangalore is also known as the city of Golf Courses. 

Bangalore has a population of more than 56 lakhs. Besides Kannada, which is the official language of the state, Bangaloreans are also comfortable with English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, etc., 

How to Reach Bangalore:
Bangalore is very well connected by Air, Rail and road, with all metros of the country. Bangalore air-port has also become an international Air-port. 

Climate in Bangalore:
The air-conditioned city of India, enjoys salubrious climate throughout this year, with a maximum temperature of 37 C and minimum 16C. 

Property price boom in Bangalore to end soon?

Land developers say the market situation will `correct itself'

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The situation of demand far outstripping supply is likely to ease

Most developments will be complete in about a year

FAST DEVELOPMENT: Apartment buildings coming up in the Sarjapur Road area in Bangalore. 

        BANGALORE: The boom in property prices over the past two years, averaging 30 per cent to 35 per cent annually, may end to a large extent in 2006, developers in the city anticipate.

        According to a spokesperson of Sobha Developers, the situation of demand far outstripping supply in the property market is likely to ease in about a year to 18 months when most of the new developments are completed.

        The Brigade Group, a major developer of both residential and office space, feels it will take another 12 months for the market to "correct itself" and for prices to stabilise. They and other builders feel demand will continue to grow with the information technology sector especially on a path of growth. Other market watchers also feel that the hiring of personnel now taking place in the IT industry can only push up the demand for quality housing.

        One interesting feature about the residential apartment complexes now coming up is the large extent of customisation within individual flats. "People want to go by `vaastu' in the positioning of doors and windows and certain indoor fixtures. Since most flats are booked in the pre-construction stage, it is not difficult to meet such requests,'' says an executive of Sobha builders. Choice of flooring, wall tiles and finishes of built-in wardrobes are other options now offered by builders.

        Whether there will be a price correction or not, the entry-level prices for apartments are about Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 1,600 a sq.ft, and in the Sarjapur area it can be as high as Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 2,500 a sq.ft. "You can buy a basic flat for about Rs. 20 lakhs to Rs. 25 lakhs or a premium flat for Rs. 40 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs. Penthouses and duplexes command a premium and prices can touch Rs. 1 crore,'' Sobha Developers says.

        Whitefield and Sarjapur are now preferred locations, and the North and North-east are where the building boom is on, most developers say. Another location to watch out for is Kanakapura Road. "Proximity to the IT corridor and the Outer Ring Road are deciding factors for location, and the Peripheral Ring Road, when it is built, will see many new developments along it. Accessibility matters to investors,'' says an executive of the Brigade Group. Bellary Road is another area which is seeing a lot of activity.

        Value addition, what developers call "add ons", are no longer just a clubhouse or a swimming pool.

        "These have become the norm; what apartment buyers now expect is more open space with scope for outdoor sports or just walking and jogging. This means we have to keep more space `unbuilt' and build vertically. Twenty-storey buildings will become more common soon,'' they explain. Potential homebuyers go both by location and the reputation of a builder, and are most serious about avoiding legal hassles over title later.

Bangalore's Retail Business Trend

The growth in the retail sector is not just confined to the central business district of Bangalore, but has spilled over to other localities too.

The retail sector in Bangalore is witnessing an explosive growth, despite traffic snarls that jam every important junction. "Far from getting saturated, Bangalore is facing a severe shortage of retail space," says Bikash Kumar, Head, Integrated Retail Management Consulting. He estimates that the city can accommodate another 50-60 retail units of 30,000- 40,000 sq ft. "Shanghai with a 15 million population has 120 super and hyper markets. Bangalore with 8 million can easily have more than half of that," he says. Two years ago, with far less traffic, Bangalore had Big Bazaar, Globus, Lifestyle and Westside and some other outlets, accounting for 6 lakh sq ft of retail space. Since then, the 3.5-lakh sq ft Forum Mall, including an 11-screen PVR multiplex, and the 2.3-lakh sq ft Garuda Mall have also come up.

But the rush to set up more retail stores seems unabated. The growth is not just confined to the central business district of Bangalore, but has also spilled over to other parts such as Kormangala, Indiranagar and Airport Road in the east, Jayanagar in the south and Malleshwaram in the north. These areas offer retail giants a huge opportunity because the middle-class population here would rather shop in nearby places than travel to the business district on weekends. The retailers also have the advantage of acquiring space here at low rentals — between Rs 60 and Rs 90 per sq ft.

Kormangala is where the Forum Mall is located. Pantaloon Retail, which owns the country's biggest retail chain, is set to increase its space to 10 lakh sq ft from the existing three lakh sq ft in three years. The company plans eight more hypermarket discount stores branded Big Bazaar in Bangalore, taking the total to 10, which means almost every area will have one Big Bazaar with not less than 40,000 sq ft. Indiranagar will shortly get another Big Bazaar outlet, and Jayanagar and Malleshwaram too will have them. Bangalore looks set to have the largest number of Big Bazaars in the country.

"Bangalore means big money for us as the middle-class population is not only huge but prepared to spend money," says Vishnu Prasad, Pantaloon's retail head for south. Both the Big Bazaars in the city have total sales of around Rs 150 crore, while the Bangalore Central Mall, another Pantaloon retail store catering to the higher income group, mops up an annual sale of Rs 100 crore.

Pantaloon's resolve to make a mark in Bangalore can be gauged from the fact that `Bangalore Hebbar', the city's showcase for culture, is fully sponsored by the retail chain. "We have funded the entire event because we want to identify with the city," Prasad says. The event was earlier sponsored by the State Government. "Everytime a Bangalorean wants to shop for anything, Big Bazaar should immediately come into his mind," he says.

According to estimates, Bangalore will have a retail space of around 4 million sq ft by 2007; it is now less than 1 million sq ft, of which Pantaloon alone has a 25 per cent share. According to Mayank Saxena of Trammell Crow Meghraj, one of India's leading property consultants, developers are getting aggressive in Bangalore because of the potential they see in the retail sector. "Earlier, they were comfortable because IT was the main focus. Now because of the IT boom, the spending power has gone up considerably and this has given a major push to the retail sector expansion in the city," he says. It is a view shared by LG Electronics' Vice-President - Marketing, Girish Rao too.
"Bangaloreans are more aware of technology than others." LG Electronics now looks at Bangalore as one of the top three cities for growth. "There is a huge potential here and it is one of the fastest growing markets in India," Rao says.

The reason for the retail boom is the city's growing affluence. In the last 10 years Bangalore's population has increased around 30 per cent; it is ranked the seventh most affluent city in India. It is estimated that over one-third of the households in Bangalore have an annual expenditure between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh, while 40 per cent of the city's population has annual incomes ranging between Rs 70,000 and Rs 1.4 lakh. The 15-45 age group is a retailer's delight.