Mumbai
Over the last decade, BandraKurla Complex (BKC) has emerged as an important business district of Mumbai and a base for financial services firms in India, backed by a robust infrastructure development in the region and incentives such as higher Floor Space Index (FSI). It has succeeded in steadily replacing the maximum city's traditional
Central Business District (CBD) of Nariman Point over the years. According to CBRE's semi-annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey, Mumbai's BKC ranked 15th on the `top 50 rankings for global prime office properties'. This has been largely because of its attractiveness as a prime commercial hub for corporate firms from the financial sector. In the last 10 years, commercial office stock has grown by more than 300 per cent in BKC.
The concept of BKC was first formulated in 1977 when the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) was appointed as the Special Planning Authority (SPA) to conceptualise and promote the location as a hub for financial and other ancillary services. Currently, BKC has approximately 9 million sq ft of Grade A office stock spread across more than 35 buildings. Along with various multi-tenanted projects, the micro-market is also home to a substantial number of built-to-suit office developments of domestic banks such as ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, and the State Bank of India, as well as financial sector stakeholders such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Such an unparalleled presence of Banking and Financial Services Institutions (BFSI) in the region is only comparable to global prime office districts such as Hong Kong Central, London's West End and Midtown Manhattan in New York.
Recent development timeline and ease of accessibility drive demand
Leading architects such as Skidmore Owings and Merrill, RSP India Ltd and Kohn Pederson Fox, are actively engaged in the area, which has led to the development of investment-grade office buildings with large floor plates and international specifications. This has prompted various Indian and multi-national companies (both public and private), to set up their India head quarters in this office district. Consulates of various countries such as the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand, among others, have also established their presence in the region. In the recent past, an increasing number of companies have preferred the micro-market to consolidate their operations in the city. Large sized office space taken up by companies such as Pfizer, Deutsche Bank, Citibank and Royal Bank of Scotland, has led to an increase in demand for office space in the region.
This has led to a significant increase in office developments, with BKC witnessing a nearly tenfold increase in office stock between 2005 and 2014. BKC is also home to the world's largest diamond bourse the Bharat Diamond Bourse spread across approximately 2 million sq ft. All these developments are located in a radius of approximately four sq km, which is unique in comparison to other office districts in Mumbai. This growth can also be accredited to the location advantage that BKC enjoys. It is easily accessible by rail and road from the central and western suburbs, as well as from Thane and Navi Mumbai.
Source - ET
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