Andheri East, a suburb of Mumbai is situated in the western part of the city and located on the Salsette Island. Andheri derived its name from the mountain “Udayanagari” which is located near the Mahakali Caves. Once administered by a Collector as a “Suburban District” in 1945, it was taken over by the city of Mumbai. The railway line divides Andheri into two parts – east and west. Saki Naka, Mumbai Industrial Development Corporation and Santacruz Electronic and Export Promotion Zone are some of the well known landmarks in Andheri East.
Accessibility:
Andheri East is one of the fastest growing suburbs of Mumbai. The micromarket is surrounded by Villa Parle, Versova, Ghatkopar, Powai, Goregaon and Bandra. The locality is well connected by buses, metro, suburban trains, autos and taxis. Mumbai International Airport is just 4.5 km away from the locality. The area has its own railway station and it is less than 4 km away from centre of the locality. The locality has 5 metro stations and the area falls in the operational line of the Mumbai Metro (Line 1, the line between Ghatkopar to Versova). The metro stations are the Andheri Metro, Western Express Highway Metro, Chakala Metro, Airport Road Metro and Marol Naka Metro. Major roads which passes through the locality includes NH 8 Western Express Highway, Jogeshwari Virar Link Road (JVLR), Guru Hargovindji Road and Sahar Elevated Road. The locality has a mixture of both residential and commercial buildings. The locality is considered to be one of the important Business Districts of Mumbai. The locality has number of BPO companies and commercial establishments.
Education:
Andheri East has number of reputed colleges and institutes. The Central Institute of Fisheries Education, ICE College of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Shri G.P.M. Degree College of Science & Commerce, Shri G.P.M. Institute of Technology, Tolani Maritime Institute, ICE College of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, and Rajasthani Sewa Chinai College are present here. The locality has good schools namely the Bombay Cambridge School, Marol Education Academy’s High School & Junior College, Tridha, Vissanji Academy, and Canossa Convent Primary School.
Hospitality:
The locality stands apart as far as the hospitality sector is concerned. It has some of the famous and the finest star hotels in the city. The Leela Mumbai, Ginger Hotel, VITS hotel, Mirage hotel, ITC Maratha, Keys Hotel Nestor, Hotel Suba International, and The Regale by Tunga are present here. The locality has serviced apartments like Oritel Service Apartments, Landmark Suite, Hotel Tuliip, Lake Bloom Residency, etc. Some of the well known restaurants located here include Gajalee, 5 Spice, Barbeque Nation, Urban Tadka, Bombay Blue, Pallavi Veg Restaurant, Spirit, and Kobe Sizzlers.
Retail:
The locality has a number of showrooms for cloths, footwear, electronics, etc. Retail outlets of both national and international brands are located here. The locality also has grocery stores, supermarkets, and general stores to meet all the needs of the residents. Some of the brands located here include Woodland, Metro Shoes, Bata, Gini & Jony, Nirvana Fashion Clothing, Ashika Textile, Shoppers Stop, and Gini & Jony. Infinity mall is also located here.
Entertainment:
Andheri East has theatres like Cinemax, Maxus Cinema, and Big Cinemas Sangam. Fantasy Land, an amusement park is located close to the locality. The locality has parks like Sher-E-Punjab Gurudwara Joggers Park, Ramlila Maidan, Kanti Nagar Joggers Park, etc.
Healthcare:
Andheri East has some of the best multispecialty, super speciality and general hospitals. The SevenHills Hospital, Holy Spirit Hospital, BSES M G Hospital, Sanjeevani Hospital, Apollo Clinic, Paramount General Hospital, Criticare multispeciality Hospital & Research center, etc are located here. In addition to these, the locality also has a number of clinics and pharmacies.
Devotional places:
Janannath Mandir, Jain Temple, Shri Ganesh Mandir, Saibaba Temple, Shree Siddhivinayak Mandir, Kristuraj Church, Holy Family Church, St. John Baptist Church, Our Lady Of Health Church, St. Vincent Pallotti Church, Darulifta – Wal – Irshad, Sunni Masjid, Jama Masjid, Choti Masjid,and Madina Masjid are some of the important places of worship in this locality.
Real estate:
Infrastructure
- The nearby commercial and industrial areas such as Sahar Road, Andheri Kurla Road and MIDC SEEPZ, make the region popular and economically strong.
- As per the state government, the World Bank is planning to come up with a number of development plans in Andheri East.
- A number of IT & ITeS companies with industrial manufacturing companies have set up their in Andheri East as the environment suits to their market.
- The physical infrastructure is quite good here as the locality is one of the main Suburban Business District of Mumbai.
Real estate
- Connectivity is the USP of Andheri East as a number of transportation facilities are available in the region. The same reason is the cause for high properties prices here.
- All major builders have projects in Andheri East to meet the demand from buyers and investors.
- More than 125 projects are available in the locality. Almost half of them are ready to be occupied and 25 percent are under construction and remaining are yet to be launched.
- Almost all unit sizes are available here as per the demand. 1, 2 and 3 BHKs are the common unit size in Andheri East.
- Above average and upper class people are the principal buyers of properties in Andheri East.
- The reason behind the high property prices here is the amenities which builders offer in their projects, such as parks, jogging track, swimming pool, gardens, clubhouse and more.
Andheri West is mostly covered with residences, whereas Andheri East has a mixture of both residential and commercial buildings. The sub localities in Andheri East are mix up of rich and slum areas. Some of the sub localities present here are Marol, Tunga Village, Gundavali, Sahar Village, Sag Baug and Subhash Nagar. The difference between Andheri East and West are the age of the property, social infrastructure, and pricing. Most of the construction in Andheri East is quite recent whereas one can find many old properties in Andheri West. Connectivity wise Andheri West doesn’t have major roads, whereas East Andheri is accessible through the Western Expressway, Metro stations and Airport easily. Price wise, Andheri West falls in the cheaper category due to the slum areas and Andheri west is costly due to the fact that it faces the beach.
Image: By Superfast1111 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22277428