Indian real estate players are looking for more innovative ways in order to boost their sales, and one of them is the idea of making integrated township. And Pune is the city where lot of integrated township proposals are maturing. All this is set to completely change Pune's landscape and would mean a new lifestyle for lakhs of people who can afford to buy these living spaces.

Townships as a fully evolved and implemented concept are still a rarity in India. Apart from the Hiranandani project in Powai, Mumbai, Magarapatta City in Pune and a few others there have been no instances of full-fledged townships being launched in the formal configuration.

Within a township you have all your needs taken care of, like schools are close by, banking facilities, shopping markets, recreational facilities and hospitals too are in the vicinity. There is also very less pollution, the working environment is good and the most important thing that there is safety and security.

According to Pune state government officials, there are a total of 34 projects that applied for township status and are under consideration. Almost all these project are being designed by overseas architects, have high rises and well-designed and well-defined spaces for living, recreation, commercial space and promise of a much better standard of living.

"Nanded City is a 700-acre township situated on the Pune-Sinhagad Road, to be built at a cost of Rs 9-10,000 crores. The township will boast an animation and gaming park spread over 40 acres. It will consist of four zones - a commercial district, residential district, amenity district and destination center," said Satish Magar , MD Magarpatta.

Nanded city will also boast of commercial office space, shops, malls and a multiplex. The residential district will have one, two, three and four-bedroom houses, studio apartments, villas, penthouses, pre-designed bungalows and event lawns. "The houses will be affordable for middle-class citizens. Keeping in mind the shortage of new 1 BHK apartments/flats in the city, we will be constructing between 4,500 and 5,000 such apartments/flats. The first phase will look at 1, 2 and 3 BHK while commercial district will be launched in December."

The amenity district in Nanded City will house educational institutes, hotels, gymnasiums, a recreation and a sports centre, food-courts and other lifestyle facilities. The destination district will cater to the daily needs of the people residing in the township and will consist of a hospital, petrol pump and service station, transit terminus and the data storage centre for township management.

Even HCC Real Estate, the 100 per cent subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Co Ltd has plans to get into a township project in Pune. The company is in the process of acquiring land and is planning a 500-acre township. It has indicated to analysts that it is in the process of acquiring 230 acre to create five million sq ft of development. Kolte Patil Developers has a 450-acre township at Hinjewadi with ICICI Ventures investing in this venture with a 50 per cent share in this project.