Hyderabad: Amid talks that there will be utter chaos with Greater Hyderabad as a joint capital from 2014 with two chief ministers — who will get right of way if their convoys happen to meet at crossroads? — two state Assemblies, a Telangana Secretariat and an Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, two DGPs, two high courts and lots of dual posts and a plethora of ministers from both the states functioning from a city spread over 625 square kilometre, there is clarity on one thing and that is the brand image of Greater Hyderabad.
The city’s brand image will only grow from here on, to achieve the status of international cities like Hong Kong and New York irrespective of the division of the state. Major projects like the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) and Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) are all set to change the face of the city and its outskirts in the next decade and thereafter.
Information technology minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said the proposed ITIR would attract more IT companies and would take the city to the next level in the field of information technology. The project is expected to generate direct revenues of Rs 3,10,849 crore, attract IT investments of Rs 2,19,440 crore and generate exports to the tune of Rs 2,35,000 crore.
“The ITIR is expected to provide direct employment to 14.80 lakh people and indirect employment to 55.90 lakh people,” he said. And this does not mean that other cities in Seemandhra region would be left out. The government has set in motion the process to set up Information Technology Investment Regions at Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, which will come up in 50,000 acres over 30 years.
The government has already prepared a report pertaining to the proposed ITIR in 12,000 acres at Visakhapatnam, which is being forwarded to the Centre. “Projects such as the Hyderabad Metro Rail have generated lot of activity in cities world over leading to generation of employment and investments flowing in,” said HMR managing director N.V.S. Reddy.
In the next five years, Rs 20,000 crore will be pumped into the project: Rs 14,000 crore by L&T on project execution, Rs 2,000 crore by the state government and another Rs 4,000 crore towards real estate and property development.
The trial runs of Metro Rail will commence from Mid-2014. “This in turn is expected to generate at least Rs 30,000 crore more revenue and investments following the economic activity to be kicked up by the project all along its corridors.
Hyderabad has a bright future because of its good infrastructure like international airport and Outer Ring Road. But there has to be commitment from even the citizens. They have to own the city and take pride in keeping it clean. Hyderabad is going to be a much better city in future,” said Mr Reddy.
Next: Boom in realty expected after division
Boom in realty expected after division
Urban development experts said Hyderabad, as a city, would obviously be under immense pressure as a joint capital of the two states. Citizens of Greater Hyderabad and its outskirts can expect rapid growth, progress, and development in all sectors with land prices soaring and transportation within the city becoming easier.
Dr V. Deepa Nair, an expert in urban development from Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Centre said growth was a constant process of change for the better and it never stopped even in the face of terrible adversities.
The current disturbance in Hyderabad is, therefore, a purely temporary phenomenon, which will calm down and usher in growth once the pangs of bifurcation settles down and people of the re-organised states look for peaceful and prosperous lives.
Hyderabad obviously will be under immense pressure as a joint capital of the two states. Unlike Chandigarh, which is a city planned and developed in modern times by renowned architects and town planners, Hyderabad is a city that has been in existence for centuries. It is a proud old city that has constantly grown and kept pace with modernisation.
However, as a joint capital, it would be put under severe stress with the pressures of growth of the newly-created states and the burgeoning population that would see a drift from other areas into the city with political, bureaucratic and economic activities picking up in future. This will certainly cause immense stress on the urban infrastructure that is insufficient today.
While Hyderabad will continue to grow as an already established metro city, a new capital city will also see spread of urbanisation and development that will help in arresting the displacement of people from that city to Hyderabad in search of greener pastures, which should auger well for Hyderabad and it’s infrastructure in the future.
The ongoing Metro Rail project will certainly change the economic activities of the city as it has already done in Delhi. Delhi metro has not only connected every corner of Delhi but has made rapid transport a reality and has ushered in a boom in economic activity and tremendous growth of real estate making far flung areas easily accessible to the heart of the city quickly, said Dr Nair.
Next: Industrial policy crucial for growth
Industrial policy crucial for growth
Though even the industrialists are optimistic that there will be no reverse gear in terms of growth and development in Greater Hyderabad, they say that it is the industrial policy offered by the government that will decide whether the brand image of Hyderabad will go sky high.
Srinivas Ayyadevara, an expert in cross-border taxation and industrial taxes and also the president of FAPCCI said: “In case of a split, both the states will develop depending on the industrial policies.
Power supply, good taxation structure, incentives and other attractions in industrial policy will play a crucial role in further development of industrial activity in and around Hyderabad and other cities in Seemandhra. We don’t see any reason why the brand image of Hyderabad will take a beating. It will only progress,” he said and added that the manufacturing industry should be encouraged to give a fillip to industrial activity.
Meanwhile, Prof G. Vasanth Kumar from the Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies, Government of India, said that the so-called confusion during the period of joint capital need not have to be elaborated for obvious reasons that the Andhra government will be focusing on their region and will not be evincing any more interest to develop Hyderabad city. The Telangana government will, however, have to focus on the underdeveloped areas within the region rather than focusing only on Hyderabad’s development.
“Hyderabad is a city which is highly developed and ensures its own sustainability to cater to the needs of existing people. Therefore, the newly formed Telangana government shall have to focus on the development of small and medium towns within the region by developing more educational centres, industries and generation of employment avenues in all the district headquarters, utilising the opportunity given by the Government of India through newly launched National Urban Livelihood Mission and extension of the Rajiv Awas Yojana programme covering all the municipalities on the priority agenda.
Similarly, the Andhra government, which is already on the forefront, may have to look at the newly-created municipalities/nagar panchayats for such satellite developments to minimise migration of rural population to the urban areas,” he said.
Rs 200cr Is the cost of the gaming and animation zone which the state government is establishing at Raidurg, near Hitec City, in Hyderabad. It is being developed along the lines of international media cities at Manchester in Britain, Montreal in Canada and Dubai. The government has allotted 30 acres of land for the project, which is expected to provide an entertainment technology-based eco-system.
180
Out of the 289 feature films produced in India last year were produced in Hyderabad making the city one of the largest film producing centres in the country.
* Hyderabad will get the distinction of being the capital of two states, one of which will be 200 km away from it.
Rs 2.19LCr is the cost estimated to develop the infrastructure of the mega ITIR project. Under the project, special economic zones (SEZs), industrial parks, free trade zones, warehousing zones and export-oriented units will come up in three corridors around the city, which includes the areas of Madhapur, Gachibowli, Uppal, Mamidipalli, Raviryal, Adibatla and Maheswaram, and Pocharam.
Rs 30,000 Cr is the amount of income-tax realised from the entire state. Out of which, Hyderabad contributes Rs 20,000 crore.
Rs 41,027Cr is the amount of VAT collected in 2012-13. Rs 5,918 crore was from Coastal Andhra, Rs 1,146 crore from Rayalaseema, '3,329 crore from Telangana and the remaining from Hyderabad and peripheral areas.
RS 16,896 Cr is the excise revenue for the state of which Rs 2,300 crore is contributed by Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts.
Rs 3,10,849 Cr is the amount of direct revenues the proposed ITIR project is expected to generate. It is expected to attract IT investments of Rs 2,19,440 crore and generate exports to the tune of Rs 2,35,000 crore.
Rs 55.90 lakh people are expected to get indirect employment by ITIR. It is expected to provide direct employment to 14.80 lakh people.
* The Hyderabad Metro Rail project is expected to generate at least Rs 30,000 crore more revenue and investments after completion following the economic activity to be kicked up by the
project all along its
corridors.
