Construction activity is picking up in and around Paradip. Simultaneously, land cost and house rent is increasing. Telegraph picture

Paradip, June 6: With hopes of Posco steel plant becoming a reality, real estate prices in the surrounding areas have skyrocketed. Local residents are trying to make the most of the sudden influx of visitors to the area.

Getting a house on rent in the belt stretching from Paradip port town to Kujang block has become quite a daunting task. Even at places where it is available, it is not affordable. House rents have risen exorbitantly to say the least.

“We wanted a three-storyed building of around 2,000 square feet plinth area in Tarinigada on Paradip’s outskirts for establishing a corporate office of our company. With great difficulty, we finally got one with the house owner charging us Rs 1.5 lakh per month. We are left with little option as there is hardly any well-furnished rental accommodation left in and around Paradip and Kujang near the site of the proposed steel plant project,” said Srimanta Mohanty, a senior executive of a multi-national company.

Police are also facing a problem trying to accommodate the huge contingents of armed constabulary. Residential houses charge an exorbitant rent. “We have taken houses in Kujang on rent. We have to cough up Rs 40,000 for a 2,000 square feet double-storeyed building. Real estate prices here have gone up. We are left with little option but to take it out on high rent,” said Gupteswar Bhoi, inspector, Kujang police station.

“Demand for houses was always high in and around Paradip because of the spurt in industrial activity in this region. Of late, it has picked up tremendously after the Posco land acquisition. The rent that stood at Rs 10,000 a month back has more than doubled now,” said Dipti Prakash Pattnaik, a local resident. “The price of land is now as high as Rs 700 to 1,000 per square foot of area. The cost of private plots along Paradip-Kujang has become prohibitive,” said Balabhadra Patri, former executive officer of Paradip Municipality.

“Many interested buyers are turning up at the tehsil office to crosscheck land records. With the spurt in demand of land, its cost will naturally be on the higher side,” said Vasudev Behera, tehsidar of Kujang.