NMC clears city’s tallest, 25-floor residential tower

Nagpur: Amid a slump in the realty sector, the city is all set to get its tallest, 25-floor residential building. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has sanctioned building plan of Infinity Tower, with a height of 90 meter, which will make it the tallest building in Central India.
Already under construction at Civil Lines, Infinity’s developer Kukreja Infrastructures recently paid Rs19 crore to the civic body, which is the highest-ever revenue from a single building. The charges are for building plan as well as extra FSI taken under Metro Rail Transit Oriented Development (ToD).
A residential building, Infinity will also be the city’s first scheme to have a 7 BHK flat with an area of 8,000 sq ft. The project will also set the record for the costliest ever flat, with prices beginning at Rs2.5 crore and going up to Rs7.5 crore.
As of today, Tata’s Capitol Heights at Rambagh in South-West Nagpur is the tallest building at 70 meter, followed by Godrej’s Anandam at Ganeshpeth in Central Nagpur at 63 meter, as per NMC records.
Shravan Kukreja told TOI Kukreja Infrastructures’ plan is to come up with a scheme of 50 floors in future. “Infinity will begin the trend of tallest buildings in the city and also boost realty market. The city is witnessing large scale development under Union minister Nitin Gadkari and CM Devendra Fadnavis. Now, development in infrastructure is need of the city. These two steps will be a game changer for the city and will give recognition across the country,” he said.
President of CREDAI Mahesh Sadhwani told TOI projects like Infinity, which have been planned after studying requirements of the people, are not hit by slump in realty market. “Entire system of infrastructure development is changing. Earlier, builders used to come up with projects on properties available with them. Now, need is to bring projects in areas where there is requirement and facilities. Even now, there is good demand for houses. Some projects are hit as they came up in areas lacking facilities and are costlier than people’s expectations. City has scope for tall buildings like Infinity but not too much at a time. Infinity is getting a good response as many people wish to live in Civil Lines but majority of the existing structures are individual buildings,” he said.
Designed by a US-based architect, Infinity is coming up in 32,000 sq ft plot and will have built-up area of around 1.20 lakh sq ft. But the scheme will have only 57 flats, with three floors designated for parking — two in basement and ground floor, one floor for amenities including mini theatre, and top floor for lounge. All amenities will be exclusive for flat owners only.
Asked whether the fire and emergency services department was equipped for such tall buildings, chief fire officer Rajendra Uchake said, “Everything is dependent upon internal fire systems. We have a turn table ladder of 42 meter, but many foreign countries with skyscrapers have machines to reach only 32 meter. Fire lift, tower, staircase, refuge area, proper sprinkler system etc are required for taller buildings,” he said.