Telangana to cut fee on high-rises

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is toying with the idea of a steep cut in “Impact Fee” to encourage building of skyscrapers in the city. The Impact Fee is collected from promoters of buildings that are taller than five floors since 2007, to provide infrastructure facilities for the city. There is no impact fee for five-floor buildings that are common in the city.

However, the Impact Fee is now seen as a stumbling block to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s ambitious plan to build skyscrapers in the city, especially around Hussainsagar.

The move will also give a much needed fillip to the city’s realty sector, which is lying low for the past few years due to various reasons. A builder constructing a 15-floor building has to pay Rs 20 crore including Impact Fee either to the GHMC or the HMDA.

Mr Rao is learnt to have directed principal secretary of municipal administration and urban development M.G. Gopal to submit proposals on slashing Impact Fee at the earliest.

It is learnt that some prominent builders headed by My Home Constructions chairman Jupally Rameswar Rao met the Chief Minister recently and brought to his notice that unless the impact fee was reduced significantly, no builder would come forward to build skyscrapers in the city, by which Hyderabad will get the look of a global city akin to Singapore.

Soon after taking charge as CM in June 2014, Mr Rao offered concessions to builders in October 2014, by extending the facility for payment of Impact Fee in six equal instalments within a period of three years. This had lapsed in January 2014.

This EMI facility was originally extended by former AP chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in September 2012 .

Builders have to pay Rs 200 per sq. ft in case of commercial complex and Rs 300 per sq. ft for residential complexes towards impact fee.The TS government wants over 100-storeyed buildings in the city for which the impact fee would amount to hundreds of crores.

To avoid this and encourage skyscraper projects, builders want TS government to cut the impact fee significantly.