Land prices are an area of concern in Coimbatore as it impacts the competitiveness of industries, said V. Parthiban, Managing Director of Bull Machines, in Coimbatore on Saturday.

Speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India, Coimbatore, on “Coimbatore Real Estate : Leading the Upswing”, a report by JLL, he said that in a globally inter-connected business environment, industries need to be competitive. Manufacturing units require large space and availability is an issue. The return on investment is affected by the high land prices. The top 100 cities in India should each have at least three ring roads. It will free up land for development, he said.

According to Rajesh B. Lund, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, education, healthcare and Information Technology are emerging sectors in Coimbatore. Several hospitals are looking at opening facilities here. Regarding the trend in demand for residential units, Mr. Lund said customers now prefer larger spaces, be it for villas or apartments.

Gugan Ilango, president elect of CREDAI Tamil Nadu, said Coimbatore saw launch of 50 projects in the last eight months. The government should support the property sector with higher FSI and lower GST so that the affordable housing sector can get a thrust, he said.

Speaking on the potential for growth of technology companies here, Naved Narayan, R & D Centre Head – Coimbatore of Bosch Global Software Technologies, said 29 % of the State’s GSDP comes from Coimbatore region. In the last five to six years, Coimbatore has seen continuous inflow of companies. It also has a large number of startups who are into cutting edge technology development. As companies develop products for import substitution, Coimbatore has the domain expertise for machine building to make these products.

Siva Krishnan, Senior Managing Director of Chennai and Coimbatore, JLL India, who moderated the session, said the growth of the property sector in Coimbatore will be sustainable if the prices do not increase drastically in a short period. Coimbatore should also move towards specialised services to meet the land needs of the industrial sector, he suggested.