Chennai: The Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), also known as Rajiv Gandhi Salai, is a 45 km arterial road stretching from Madhya Kailash temple in Adyar to Mamallapuram aka Mahabalipuram.
Popularly known as Chennai’s IT corridor, this is a buzzing location and an aspirational residential destination. Presence of IT parks, connectivity to prime locations, and proposed infrastructure development have made this location as the key growth corridor of Chennai city.
‘OMR gained prevalence as a route post connecting Kotturpuram bridge to Mahabalipuram in 1987, one significant tourist attraction near Chennai securing a solid link to Taramani and beyond. The Mahabalipuram Road, was named old when the new East Coast Road parallel to it was completed in 1998’, says Prashin Jhobalia, vice-president, marketing strategy, House of
Hiranandani.
The Indian Institute of Technology was built in Guindy, transforming 600 acres of forest in the early 1960s, where the Rajiv Gandhi Salai road today commences, was a shift of decentralisation of the city core and land use.
Apart from the notable Universities, the corridor was initially anchored by numerous institutions drawing a vibrant crowd. Owing to the intellectual evidence coupled with a mammoth of migrants flocking to the educational destinations added to the beginning of the IT corridor. However, the economic liberalisation in the early 1990s acted as the backbone of this endeavour.