Telangana Inc. - The Battle for Hyderabad

The battle for Telangana has become a battle for Hyderabad. Those demanding a separate state say they want to end the dominance of the contractor - politicians from the rest of Andhra Pradesh who have made crores from India's cyber city, because it is the political class of the same region which also controls the politics of their state.

On the western edge of Hyderabad lies the Lanco Hills luxury township. Spread over 100 acres, it one of the biggest real estate projects in the city.

It is the brainchild of Lagdapati Rajagopal, Congress MP from Vijaywada in Coastal Andhra, who is the founder of the Rs. 600 crore Lanco group, with interests in power and infrastructure, and a fierce opponent of Telangana.

But the land has been at the centre of an ongoing bitter legal battle with the Waqf Board claiming it is their land, the site of a religious shrine, the proof of which is a religious flag atop the Lanco Hills.
 

Study begins to set up water recycling plants in Hyderabad

Gujarat-based private agency, Multi Mantech International Private Limited has been awarded the contract for conducting feasibility studies for setting up of water recycling plants for a cluster of IT companies, government offices, industries, big residential complexes, gated communities etc. in the city.

“The idea is to treat and recycle sewerage water and sell it at a lower price to citizens. This will bring down the usage of drinking water for flushing, gardening and washing purposes and most importantly, reduce the burden on exploration of ground water,” said Water Board engineer-in-chief M. Satyanarayana.

Reliance keen to set up aerospace unit in Hyderabad

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance group company, Reliance Aerospace Technologies Private Limited, has expressed interest to set up its first aerospace unit in the country in or around Hyderabad. The company representatives contacted Andhra Pradesh government and requested it to provide land in Hyderabad to set up their first manufacturing unit. Following this, the government asked its officials to identify suitable land and show it to Reliance. A high level delegation from Reliance will visit the city next week and finalise the location.

"Reliance Aerospace Technologies of Mukesh Ambani contacted us with a request for allotment of land, equipped with an airstrip, in or around Hyderabad to test their equipment. We have identified two places on the outskirts of the city," said a top official on condition of anonymity.

Hyderabad Outer Ring Road (ORR) - Medchal to Shamshabad Drive

How Gopichand made Hyderabad India's badminton capital

 

Pullela Gopichand's unwavering commitment has made Hyderabad a powerhouse of Indian badminton, a factory which keeps churning out one promising player after another.

PV Sindhu's bronze at the World Championships on Saturday was just the latest in a line of superlative feats achieved by players emerging from coach Gopi's stable.

In fact, this is a feat which has eluded even Saina Nehwal, who under Gopi has won close to 20 international titles, including a bronze at the Olympics. Then there are players like Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt, who too have started registering impressive wins.

It's a testament to Gopi's unwavering commitment to his wards that Indian shuttlers have won more than two dozen international titles, at times even taking on undisputed giants China. The coach literally eats, sleeps and breathes the game. Just ask his wife, former player PVV Laxmi, or his mother Subbaravamma.

My Home Constructions’s new project 'My Home Vihanga' in Hyderabad

With a 30 year track record of building enduring relationships and happy communities, My Home Constructions brings to you yet another Mega Venture located in the heart of Gachibowli, ‘My Home Vihanga’. Perched atop a hillock at Gachibowli, Wipro Junction. My Home Vihanga offers you a view of the IT and Financial districts like you’ve never seen before.

The 21-acre project will have close to 2,000 two, three and four BHK apartments sized between 1,115 and 2,160 sq ft.

According to the company’s chairman, Jupally Rameswar Rao, the project has been launched with an inaugural offer price of Rs 4,100 per sq ft and the company has by now received bookings for about 60 per cent of the units. It will take about three to four years to complete all phases.

NCC Urban One by NCC Urban at Narsingi

For an upper middle-class family, buying their dream home is a landmark event. But given the number of projects coming up in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and the fluctuating prices, one needs to be extra careful while looking for the best deal.

One such upcoming project in the city, which happens to have a happy combination of right price, delivery period and community living is NCC Urban One by NCC Urban at Narsingi.

NCC Urban One is a few minutes’ drive from key locations such as Ocean Park, Appa Junction, Future Kids School, Outer Ring Road, Kokapet and Gandipet.

The project is also close to developments such as ICICI Towers, Cognizant Technologies, Karvy, Polaris, Microsoft, and Capgemini. It is around 4-km from Wipro Polaris Circle at Nanakramguda Junction and 6-km from ORR at Gachibowli.

Hyderabad government land details are available in tablets

In tune with changing times, the Hyderabad district administration will use Tabs (tablet phones) to keep tabs on government land in 16 mandals. Hyderabad could be the first district in the state to use Android-based tablets to get land details.

Hyderabad collector Mukesh Kumar Meena has taken an initiative to provide Tabs to tehsildars working in 16 mandals in the district to update status of government land. “The government is keen to develop a land bank in each district. Though the revenue department has information about status of government land, it is not up-to-date. We have alienated government land to various departments like education, SC, ST, BC welfare, minorities and housing for various purposes. In fact, the district administration does not have exact status of land usage. Though we have allotted the land, the departments have not utilised it for the purpose for which it has been allocated and it has been lying vacant,” collector Meena told TOI.

Speed up tenders for GAME city, Minister tells APIIC

Information Technology Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah has directed the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) officials to work closely with the AP Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation for inviting tenders for the incubation space for gaming and animation companies at Raidurg by August 20.

The IT Minister, who reviewed the status of IT projects across the State and pending issues with the IT&C Department, APIIC and STPI here on Thursday, asked the APIIC to expedite the construction of Incubation Towers at Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kakinada and Warangal and complete them by December this year.

Finance biggies make Gachibowli a hotspot

Photo credit: Srinivas Setty

Gachibowli that houses ICICI, Franklin Templeton, Andhra Bank, APSFC etc, is sitting pretty with the twin advantage of present high rents due to limited supply and bright future prospects with increased launches.

Gachibowli is a submarket that includes Gachibowli, Nanakramguda, Manikonda, Raidurg and surrounding locations. It is the next popular IT/ ITeS destination of Hyderabad after Hitec City. IT-related developments in Gachibowli began with CMC setting up its campus in the late 90s and Microsoft opening its first campus in India in the early 2000s. 

AMD Opens Global Design Centre In Hyderabad

President and CEO Rory Read at the inauguration of a new Global Design Center in Hyderabad on Thursday. PTI

Chip maker AMD today announced the opening of its design centre in Hyderabad equipped with state-of-the-art lab facilities for software and hardware innovations which are at the heart of the firm's popular Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).

The new design centre was inaugurated by AMD President and CEO Rory Read, AMD said in a release. "AMD is committed to providing customers with innovative, tailored technology solutions that empower people and deliver exceptional experiences," Read said.

GHMC goes tech savvy

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) claims to be the first to use a real-time urban governance monitoring system at any level of government to attend to citizens’ complaints and increase the efficiency of civic services.

The off-site real-time (OSRT) monitoring system uses the ubiquitous cell phone as a major component. GPRS technology allows cellphones to capture real-time images of public servants at work or public sites under inspection, with the date, time and location of the picture. These images are instantly transmitted to a central server and are available in the public domain.

Garbage collection, for instance, which is outsourced to private contractors can be easily monitored using this system. The private contractor collects the garbage and brings it to dumper bins from where it is taken to transfer stations. The corporation takes over from here and transfers the waste to the main dump yards.

Long road ahead for Hyderabad to become Union Territory

The process of creating a Union Territory is as lengthy as that of creating a new state. If Hyderabad, designated the common capital of the bifurcated AP, is to be designated a Union Territory, the Centre will have to enact legislation for this purpose or combine it with the States Reorganisation Bill that will have to be passed for Telangana to become a recognised state. Areas to be brought under the UT will have to be identified and notified in the Bill.

Next, an entry must be made to the first schedule in the Constitution about the new UT. An administrator will then be appointed by the Centre, who will have an adviser and a team of secretaries to help him/her administer the UT.

“In the case of Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory, the governments of Punjab and Haryana had deputed equal number of IAS officers to the team of secretaries,” a senior Central government official said.
 

Telangana effect: Brace for a rise in Hyderabad property prices

Now that the creation of a separate Telangana state is announced, real estate developers in Hyderabad can heave a sigh of relief.

Despite competitive capital values compared with other metros, the Hyderabad real estate market was down in the dumps for the last couple of years with builders holding back projects and property buyers holding out on purchase decisions due to political instability over the bifurcation issue.

While other cities entered a resurgence phase after the 2008 slump, recovery in Hyderabad was marred by political uncertainty and characterised by fewer launches and declining capital values.

Since the residential sector is highly sentiment driven, the Hyderabad market failed to attract buyers.

According to property research firm Knight Frank Hyderabad will take more than two years to absorb the  current unsold inventory of  33,000 housing units.

Capital matters: Ongole getting all set for a bull run

With the chances of the Centre going back on bifurcation of the state becoming bleak, the focus is shifting to the location of the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. The demand of public representatives from Rayalaseema to grant them at least the new capital is likely to complicate matters in the coming days.

The Congress high command's lack of clarity on where the new capital would be located has given scope for another tussle between the remaining two regions, Andhra and Rayalaseema. Though the Congress working committee allowed Hyderabad to remain as joint capital for 10 years, it also made it clear that Andhra Pradesh has to build its own capital and vacate Hyderabad.

Also, the demand for allocation of special fund for construction and development of infrastructure in the capital is likely to intensify trouble. According to sources, the Centre would appoint an experts' committee to study the advantages and disadvantages of various locations for setting up the new capital.

Hyderabad Realtors Rejoice As Political Uncertainty Ended

Real estate developers in Hyderabad feel the decision of the Congress Working Committee and the ruling UPA coalition's coordination committee to accord statehood to the Telangana region will augur well for their business in the long run.

"The business will pick up, as there is an end to political uncertainty over the issue," Rajeshwara Rao, chief executive of the Hyderabad chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, told Business Standard.

He is confident Hyderabad, which has world-class infrastructure facilities, will be the most attractive destination for large global investors. "It (the decision on statehood) is good for everybody. There will immediately be an inflow of investments into the city," said Narayan Reddy, promoter of Lumbini Constructions.

HMDA ignores illegal layouts

Numerous illegal layouts have mushroomed in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority jurisdiction over the last five years, to which the civic body turns a blind eye. This year, less than 100 applicants have approached the civic body for layout regularisation. Despite this, the number of unauthorised plots run into thousands.

Most of the applications are for huge residential complexes, gated communities and group housing scheme layouts. A handful of them are for individual residential layouts.

Since 2010, over 2,000 layouts (above 5 acres) have sprung up in the HMDA area. So far the civic body has given final approval for not more than 100 layouts.