The boom can be attributed to the fact that there is hardly any land left within the municipal limits of Zirakpur and the ones reaping a windfall are those with farms spread across several acres, most notable among these being Gulistan Farms (site approved under a mega project) near Silver City which is apparently being negotiated for a whopping Rs 18-20 crore an acre. Sources said five-star hotel group Hyaat is also holding talks for a site in Zirakpur while the Radisson group is already coming up with a five-star hotel here.

Also in talks with a five-star hotel group is a leading builder of the area, N K Sharma, for his proposed five-acre N K Farms on the main Ambala Road. “The upcoming international airport four kms away has made Zirakpur a hot property for mall developers and hotel groups. There is also a proposal to develop a direct road linking Zirakpur to the airport,” said Sharma.

Though rates of smaller commercial sites such as showrooms and office space in Zirakpur have also gone up significantly (a showroom in Silver City went for Rs 1.5 crore last month), it is the mall developers who are driving prices of bigger commercial plots to the range of Rs 15-20 crore an acre, say property consultants of the area.

Already over a dozen malls are coming up on this road, including Paras Group’s Paras Downtown Mall, Chandigarh City Centre of the N K Sharma group and Silver City’s Cosmo Plaza, while many hospital and hotel groups are also trying to strike deals for their mega projects.

“Commercial property rates have peaked in almost all parts of Zirakpur, including the Patiala Road. But it is Ambala Road, which has emerged as the most sought-after realty destination for builders and land owners here. They are getting the prices they are quoting,” said Sukhwinder Singh of Punjab Properties. He added that commercial prices in Zirakpur are now inching closer to Chandigarh due to saturation in the availability of plots in the tricity.

But there is skepticism whether the frail infrastructure of Zirakpur — poor roads, traffic chaos, inadequate sewage, water and power supply, security problems, no streetlights — will be able to sustain this boom.