Hi

It was recently announced that MW Zander is to build the new Fab City in Hyderabad - does anyone know if the architecture plans for this development are available yet?

Thanks

great news: world leader in constructing Fabs roped in for Semindia plant. :banana:
----------------------

NEW DELHI: MW Zander, one of the world’s largest builders of hi-tech buildings and industrial plants, is all set to give shape to India’s semiconductor industry.

MW Zander will design and construct the assembly test and mark plant (ATMP) of the $3.5 AMD-SemIndia fab. Besides, the company is also in talks with Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation to set up its 10 proposed foundries worth $4 billion.

Worldover, MW Zander builds semiconductor facilities for Intel, AMD, Infineon, Chartered. It also provides services to the world’s largest chip foundry — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC).

“We are designing SemIndia’s ATMP facility. We are also in talks with HSMC and SemIndia to design their facilities. Globally, facilities management and design constitutes about 25-30% of total project cost. We expect the same in India, “ MW Zander’s managing director Helmut Kurzboeck told ET.

Going by these calcualtions, the HSMC fab may yield $1 billion for MW Zander. The SemIndia fab proposed to be set up at a cost of $3.5 billion may yield $875 million in revenues for the company. “Of course, these revenues will flow over a period of many years,” Mr Kurzboeck added.

In India, MW Zander, is about 10 years old with life-sciences clients like Shantha Biotech, Ranbaxy, Reliance Life Sciences, Astra Zeneca and Ministry of Defence. The company provides clean room technology for the electronic, solar, pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnological and food-processing industries, research in the production of clean room components, construction technology as well as facility management.

The company provides end to end solutions for setting up a chip fab from consulting planning and construction to operation of semiconductor plants. MW Zander also provides sophisticated equipment like cleanroom ceiling grid systems, ultra filter fan units, air showers and precison air-conditioning systems used in chip manufacturing.

A cleanroom is an environment, typically used in chip manufacturing or scientific research, that has a low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapors. Isocab and Hutchins & Hutchins are other big cleanroom suppliers in the world.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/MW_Zander_to_design_SemIndia_ATMP/RssArticleShow/articleshow/1825680.cms

Projects of significant importance never get the attention they deserve :bash:

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HYDERABAD: Stung by criticism over the slow progress in the implementation of the prestigious semi-conductor complex near the city, the State Government has initiated a series of measures to give impetus to the project.

Chief Secretary J. Harinarayan held a meeting with senior officials of the Industries and Information Technology departments to identify and remove the bottlenecks in implementing the Fab City. The Industries Department began working out details of incentives like supply of power and water at concessional rates to be offered to the project. Sources said the Government would issue an order very soon clearing the land allotment and specifying the incentives as well as the guidelines to be followed by the promoter, SemIndia.

The Government is understood to have tentatively finalised a price of Rs. 20 lakhs an acre for alienation of 1,200 acres of Government land to the Fab City, the sources added.

However, only 300 acres would be handed over to SemIndia first for this price. The rest of the land would be allotted, depending on the response by others to establish units in the Fab City.

Senior officials, contacted by The Hindu, insisted that Fab City was going to be reality and dismissed the criticism by political parties as baseless. The Government signed an agreement with SemIndia on February 16 last and the company immediately registered its local arm on February 21.

They attributed the delay in issuing the relevant orders to the Centre not announcing its semi-conductor policy until February 22, 2007. They said SemIndia would invest Rs 15,000 crore for the Rs 40,000-crore mega project.

Following a message from the Government, SemIndia Chairman Vinod Agarwal is rushing here from the United States on Tuesday to respond to apprehensions being raised whether the project would come up at all and whether the company was competent enough to execute it.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/24/stories/2007042418090100.htm

HYDERABAD Projects and Updates - IX
Let us continue here ...


Charminar logo to brand city * `Hyderabad on Mission Tomorrow' *

http://i13.tinypic.com/440ey50.jpg

(link to previous thread: ) http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=14337795#post14337795

just a recap: Hyd Calendar
ORR Phase II (61 km) Select builders and award works ============= Aug 2007 (done)
Jamia Osmania ROB (2001 - 2007) ============================ Aug 2007 (done)
Nalgonda cross roads flyovers: ============================== Sep 2007 (done)
MMTS - APSRTC Issue of common fare tickets =================== Oct 2007 (done)
APIIC 100F Trade Tower: APIIC to issue Letter of Award to Reliance === Oct 2007 (done)
ORR Phase II Begin works ================================== Nov 2007 (done)
HMR: Announce Concession Agreement ======================== Jun 2007 (done)
HMR: Open Technical bids ================================== Jul 2007 (done)
HMR: Inauguration of MetroRail Bhavan at Saifabad =============== Aug 2007 (done)
HMR: GoI clearance for 20% viability gap+10% JNURM funds ========= Apr 2008 (done)

Panjagutta flyover part I (ICICI Bank to Topaz Building part): ======== Oct 2007 (done)
Greenlands Flyover Part I (from CM’s camp office to Begumpet ROB ==== Nov 2007 (done)
Chandrayanagutta flyovers: ================================ Dec 2007 (done)
HIAL @ Shamshabad (PPP modal) ============================= Mar 2008 (done)
Six-laning of the road from Mehdipatnam to Hyderguda ============= Mar 2008 (done)
Six-laning of the road from Hyderguda to Aramgarh jn ============== Mar 2008 (done)
Panjagutta flyover part II (Kirtilal Jewellers to Vengal Rao Park/Chutneys) Jul 2008 (done)
ORR phase-1: (22 km) 4 lane connectivity to HIAL (HUDA) =========== Nov 2008 (done)
Greenlands Flyover part II (start from Begumpet and land at HPS ====== Dec 2008 (done)

FAB City: SemIndia Phase-I (with investment of $100 million) ========= Feb 2009 (done) One unit done shipment of product
US Consulate to commence operations ========================= Mar 2009 (done)
Seetafalmandi ROB == ( 13 years in construction!) ============== Jul 2009 (done)
PVNR Eway SD Hospital Mehdipatnam – Hyderguda (5.1 km) (HUDA) ==== Oct 2009 (done)
PVNR Eway Hyderguda - Attapur -Katedan Aramgarh Jn (NH7) ======== Oct 2009 (done)
Musi Revitalization project ================================== Dec 2008 U/C
The Rs 400-crore Charminar Pedestrianisation Project ============== Nov 2008 U/C

Integrated Bus Terminus Twin Towers Sec'bad == Select builder ===== Jul 2008 (on hold)
HMR: Open Financial bids, Select BOT developer ================= Jul 2008
HMR: Commence construction =============================== Dec 2008

MMTS Phase II:
Secunderabad-Medchal (28 km), Falaknuma-Shamshabad (20 km),
Secunderabad-Ghatkesar (19 km), Moula Ali-Sanatnagar (21 km),
Moula Ali-Kachiguda (10 km) and Telapur-Patancheru (8 km).========= Dec 2009 (may be)
ORR Phase II: Induni-Era 12-km Narsingi to Kollur ================== Apr 2010 U/C
ORR Phase-II: Mytas-Gayatri 11.7-km Kollur-Muttangi =============== Apr 2010 U/C
ORR Phase-II: Ramki Infra and Elsamex 12.6-km Shamshabad- Tukkuguda = Apr 2010 U/C
ORR Phase-II: Mytas-Gayatri 13-km Tukkuguda- Bongulur ============ Apr 2010 U/C
ORR Phase II: ITNL-KMC 13-km Bongulur-Pedda Amberpet ============ Apr 2010 U/C

Uppuguda ROB (2007-2009) Kandikal Gate ROB (2007-2009) ========= Dec 2009

Some of the Future Skyscrappers in and around Hyderabad
Building Name ============= Location === Floors == Status
LT Info City "SERENE COUNTY" = Gachibowli === 14 == done == 10 Towers
Urban Entertainment Center DLF Basheerbagh == ?? == U/C (ETA 2010)
Saket and Sumeru Residential == AS Rao Nagar = 23 == U/C Jun 2007 (ETA 2010)
Financial Dist - ICICI Tower === Nanakramguda = 28 == U/C ETA Dec 2009
Waverock ================ Nanakramguda = 18 == U/C 12 acres.
Aliens Space Station ======== Tellapur ====== 30 == U/C ETA Dec 2009
Alien Space Station 2 ======= Shamshabad === 15 == U/C 29 acres of lush greenery 13 residential towers
The Iconia ================== 19 blocks @ 19 === U/C

Lanco Hills - IT and ITES ===== Manikonda ==== 20 == U/C 12 towers Proposed (some in Phase-I 2007-2010)
Lanco Hills - Residential ====== Manikonda ==== 30 == U/C == 16 towers Proposed (some in Phase-I 2007-2010)
28 July 2009 (Lanco Hills Status):
UNIT:=== 02LH = 03LH = 04LH = 05LH = 06LH = 07LH = 08LH = 09LH = 10Lh = 15LH = 16LH = 17LH = 99LH
STATUS:= 21FL = 27FL = 31FL = 21FL == 23FL = 27FL = 24FL = 19FL = 23FL = 24FL = 8FL = 21FL = Elevation W-I-P

Lanco Hills - Signature Tower == Manikonda === 100 == === 2008-2012 (phase-II)
Integrated Bus Terminus Twin Towers Sec'bad == 25F = Select builder: Jul 2008 (completion: 3 yrs)
Business Dist: APIIC Trade Tower Manchirevula= 100+ = 2008 + 4yrs. 40 lakh sft: Reliance :) @Rs. 7000 crore
Lodha Group ============== Madhapur ==4 * 45 ====== 2008-2011

SMR Vinay Fountainhead, Mettuguda======= 4x 22F ====== 2008 - 2011
DLF SEZ 26 acres =========== Poppalguda == ?? == Proposed @Rs. 5000 crore

SIX NEW JEWELS IN HYDERABAD'S CROWN :)
1) PENTAGON ----- The IT and Commercial Hub, Miyapur (104 acre layout at Miyapur)
------------------- The originally planned 200 acres @ Poppalguda is under litigation
2) HUDA Minifer --- The Beautiful city, Budvel (mini township project in 200 acre will comprise of villas)
3) Regal BRoadway - The Hotel Corridor - Badvel (100 acres hotel corridor, by AP Tourism Dept)
-------------------- The originally planned 200 acres @ Shamshabad will be auctioned as plots for housing
4) GIGA City ------- The IT and Knowledge Destination (2000 acres beyond Secunderabad Cantonment)
5) Calibre SEZ ----- Kokapet (100 acre area close to the Financial District and HUDA Golden Mile)
6) Elixir City ------- The fountain of life (200 acre medical city at Ameenpur)
Townships and other multi-use projects
Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club by Emaar MGF 531 acre Rs. 12,000 Crore Gachibowli (2008 - 2010)
Tellapur Township == 400 acre, Rs.10,000 crore township project at Tellapur (2007 - 2010)
Kokapet Golden Mile = 70 acre Golden Mile project at Kokapet (Proposed)
Other Development projects
1) Kokapet SEZ in 275 acres of land (phase-I: Google, Patni, Sonata, Intelligroup,
Conexant, c-Bay, Cognizant, Qualcomm, DQ, Infinite and Tech Mahindra ...) ===== Nov 2007
http://www.cyberabadtimes.net/2007/10/kokapet-to-get-another-it-sez.asp
Hyderabad Digital Media City 100 acres @ Sultanpur ======================= 2008 - 2010

some of delyas in contemporary infra projects ...
== Project ============== Original ETA == Completion ======== Delay
Panjagutta Flyover part II ==== Dec 2006 === Jul 2008 ========= 08 months
Greenlands Flyover ========= Dec 2006 === Dec 2008 ========= 24 months

Recent Road Infra project ==== Original ETA = Actual ETA ======== Delay ==
ORR Phase-I 24 km ========== Mar 2008 === Nov 2008 ======== 08 months
ITEL IT Corridor 20 km ======= Apr 2007 ==== Oct 2008 ======== 18 months
Kathipara Grade Separator ==== Apr 2007 ==== Oct 2008 ======== 18 months

BETL B'lore 9 KM =========== Jul 2008 ===== Jan 2010 ======== 18 months
PVNR EEway Hyd 11.6 km ==== Oct 2008 ===== Oct 2009 ======== 12 months

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/...0706066024.asp
http://20twentytwo.blogspot.com/2008...xpressway.html

Source: Moneycontrol India (http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/pressnews/overwhelming-response-to-saleresidential-space/20/43/292963)

Overwhelming response to sale of residential space at LANCO HILLS
18 July, 2007

... About 4 million square feet of residential space has been booked within three days of the opening of the bookings to the public.

... The total area being developed would be around 30 million square feet. The complete project is targeted for completion in various phases ranging from 2 to 4 years.

looks very encouraging.

:applause: babji you are just amazing sir.
yem gnyanamanDi.

Today, Punjagutta police towed away my bike for illegal parking.

I had to shell out Rs 200/- (50 for illegal parking, 150 for towing).

I argued that I parked within the margin, but the guy at the police station said that they cant do much coz they already prepared the challan. They didnot even showed me the photograph proof.

By the way, Is our traffic police department outsourced?
most of the personnel inside the station were some private security agency fellows wearing police uniform.

I usually do see some private security people operating at certain junctions. Maybe due to staff shortage traffic department might have hired these guys on temporary basis.

I think traffic cops on that day must have fell short of target set to collect fine amount per day and you were like a god sent gift to them :lol: .

http://www.cyberabadtimes.net/2007/07/it-not-easy-in-hyderabad.asp
It's not easy in Hyderabad
To build any new facility roads or flyovers in this complex concrete jungle called Hyderabad is a monumental task without being caught in legal problems, or a maze of cables and pipelines.

Though GHMC officials claim land acquisition was the reason for delays, they refuse to admit that they started these projects without acquiring land in the first place. A handful of properties, including those of two former judges, literally put a spanner in flyover works in the city, resulting in overshooting deadlines and inconvenience to road-users. The Punjagutta flyover was caught in legal wrangles. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the executing agency, could acquire a property belonging to a showroom only in April, 2007, two months after the 'official' deadline. Similarly, the Greenlands flyover has overshot the deadline by eight months due to a hitch with four properties. The last of these was taken over in April. Likewise, it took nine months for officials to acquire property of one Habeeb at Chandrayanagutta. Though the flyover works began in September, 2005, acquisition was completed in April this year. These three flyovers showcase official apathy. As a result, traffic congestion is not an aberration, but the norm in the city.

Though GHMC officials claim land acquisition was the reason for delays, they refuse to admit that they started these projects without acquiring land in the first place. Of 116 properties identified for acquisition, 38 land owners gave their consent, while the majority settled for the land acquisition mode. Only a handful went to court. For getting a property of former judge B Subhashan Reddy at Somajiguda, the officials had to spend three months to complete all formalities to acquire it.

The branched-out Punjagutta flyover is eight months behind schedule. Changes in the alignment at Chutney's, acquisition of properties and ever-increasing traffic resulted in delay, claim officials. "Normally, construction of a pier takes 15 days, but due to underground cables, water and sewer lines, the contractor, Gammon India, could complete one pier in three months," GHMC superintending engineer R Sridhar said. Now, the corporation hopes to open it in November....

The 1.1 km-long Greenlands flyover is behind schedule by nine months. The contractor, JMC Projects, bagged the work in December, 2005 and was to complete it by February, 2007. However, the works were stalled at the Begumpet road over bridge (ROB) when the railways raised doubts on the stability of the bridge. The new flyover would be merged with the existing ROB. As the railways wanted to see the design of the flyover, precious two months was lost. The rail officials agreed to the proposal only after studying a JNTU report on the bridge post merger. After several impediments, the flyover works are now progressing. It is likely to be opened by November. The trumpet-shaped Nalgonda crossroads flyover got delayed for over eight months due to acquisition delays and traffic diversions. The disabled welfare department took five months to hand over property to GHMC. The flyover works began in November, 2005, but due to a controversy over the alignment drawings it actually started in January, 2006. It is likely to be over in September.

The smallest flyover (450 metre-long Chandrayanagutta flyover) took nearly two years for completion though the project time was just 10 months. The flyover works started in October, 2005 and should have been ready by September, 2006. Of six properties, one property owner went to court. After the court verdict, the corporation was forced to cough up Rs 7 lakh. With the flyover almost ready, the authorities plan to inaugurate it by August 15...

After nine long years and acquisition delays, the Sithaphalmandi ROB, which started in 1999, is likely to be ready by December.

The Jamai-Osmania ROB, which too began in 1999, is in the final stages of completion. It is likely to be opened by August 15.... Source: The Times of India

Overwhelming response to sale of residential space at LANCO HILLS18 July, 2007

... About 4 million square feet of residential space has been booked within three days of the opening of the bookings to the public.

... The total area being developed would be around 30 million square feet. The complete project is targeted for completion in various phases ranging from 2 to 4 years.

That means next phase will not be delayed. :righton:

The ball is now in Lancos court. m))

Babji
Urban Entertainment Center DLF Basheerbagh == 60 == U/C (ETA 2010)This news totally went over my head! Do you have any more information on this project? The search feature seems to be down

Source: ToI

THE GREEN REVOLUTION

The green cover in the city is improving thanks to increasing awareness among people and initiatives by the government

Taking a refreshing walk at a park close to your home and not having to drive down to an oasis of greenery kilometres away, might soon become an everyday reality. The government and people are aggressively fighting to preserve the depleting green cover of the city and the endeavour has begun to show results.

The awareness to increase the green cover has increased in the last few years. Earlier, people lacked the right attitude but now – with alarming revelations about green cover depletion – the mindset is changing.

Says K S Reddy, IFS, executive director of Urban Forestry, “There are several new parks and gardens coming up. The Saroornagar Lake park and the one in Vanasthalipuram, are the latest on the list.” With concerns over global warming on the rise, it has become imperative to plant more trees and make space for gardens. The HUDA roughly differentiates parks into big parks and small parks. While the bigger ones require an investment of over Rs 2 crore and are located in commercial areas, the smaller parks can be budgeted at Rs 40 lakh and are usually in residential areas. The forest department also plants trees in specific areas or colonies on request. “We plant trees along roads, develop gardens and maintain them for a year, after which the responsibility is handed over to the colony authorities. There has been an increase in the number of such requests,” says Reddy.

Sheela Singh, a resident of Safilguda, says “The newly built park around Safilguda Lake is a boon.” Tree planting as an activity has also picked up. This is evident by the plant sales recorded by nurseries, close to Rs 100 crores. And with another Rs 40 crores as investment into urban forestry this year, the picture doesn’t look all that bleak.

However, building parks in a busy city is also challenging. Getting empty spaces is a challenge. “Our activities are limited to making parks around lakes, in GHMC-defined ‘open spaces’, or developing the existing ones,” Reddy sighs. The other issue is road widening. The trees planted along the roads are cut during road widening. To escape this, the HUDA plants trees along road dividers and in traffic islands. Making gardens and lawns around lakes has its disadvantages too. “Over the years, beautification activities – like spreading lawns – along lakeshores has depleted close to 30 per cent of the area of lakes,” says Veda Kumar, president of Forum for a Better Hyderabad.

The threat to the lake area is a rising concern. “I think authorities should plant trees rather than have lawns, which are water guzzlers,” says Shakti Singh, a college student. But with the government taking steps in the right direction and people feeling the dearth of the green cover, it looks like the city remaining evergreen might not be such a distant dream.

• According to a global norm, 33% of a city should have a green cover.

• In 2004, Hyderabad reached a level of 24% green space, which is a sharp rise from a mere 4.2% in 1994.

New parks coming up at

• Vanasthalipuram

• Sachivalayanagar

• Prashantinagar

• AS Rao nagar

• Patel Nagar (KPHB)

• Chinnathalakunta (Rajendranagar)

• Rajaramnagar

• Theme park at Osman Sagar

Overwhelming response to sale of residential space at LANCO HILLS

Source: Moneycontrol India



Oops! This is in contrary to what some of our onboard experts who said it was "very lukewarm" response. :lol:

Looks like I need to add moneycontrol.com to the list of websites not to be trusted. :lol:

Last year HUDA was planning for a park at Narayanguda in the govt land behind Shanthi theatre. I don't think there is much progress on that.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/14/stories/2006041421700300.htm
HYDERABAD: The long-awaited park in the midst of highly congested concrete jungle in Narayanguda is only six months away.

The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will develop the most modern park with a swimming pool, gym, joggers' track, amphitheatre, skating rink, children's play area, ponds and foot bridges in over six acres of land acquired from the Excise Department.

HUDA Chairman D. Sudheer Reddy laid the stone for the Rs.4.5-crore park on Thursday, and called upon officials to complete it by October 2 when HUDA would turn 31years.

Healthy living

Emphasising the need for the park at Narayanguda for the benefit of people living in surrounding areas, he said pure air and water were important for a healthy living.

He said if Bathkamma kunta dispute were resolved, HUDA would develop a park in the 100-year-old kunta as suggested by Anjan Kumar Yadav, MP, to protect it from encroachments.

Mayor T. Krishna Reddy congratulated HUDA for taking up the work. He said some amount from Mayor's funds would be allotted for the park.

Himayatnagar MLA Kishan Reddy said the entire land should be allotted to the park.

Babji
This news totally went over my head! Do you have any more information on this project? The search feature seems to be down
They are keeping a low profile as it has already attracted some criticism from various opposition parties.

The issues raised by the INTAC and Heritage committees have been resolved. The builders agreed to preserve the heritage structures intact and to maintain them. The earth works are in progress. The AP State Tourism Dept also has a stake in it, so we can expect some thing really cool.

We may not get to see any pics or renderings soon for fear of negative publicity...

Cyberabad Times
Mega tourism works in progress
The Tourism Department took up works valued at Rs 1,500 crore under public-private partnership (PPP) mode and some of them are in various stages of execution.

Works of Hyderabad Expo Centre and Spa training centre are nearing completion and would be inaugurated before the end of next month. Disclosing this at a press conference here today, after Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy formally launched the material pertaining to joint promotional initiatives by the Department and Air India at Assembly Committee Hall, Tourism Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy said that the Department has signed an agreement with Air India to promote tourism in Andhra Pradesh globally with an investment of up to Rs 24 lakh.

The influx of tourists to the State has slowly been increasing and it has touched 11.17 crore mark last year compared to 5.2 lakh visitors in 2001. Foreigners among the visitors last year were about 6.6 lakh. Night bazar in the city outskirts and Shilpa Sampada at Shilparamam will be ready next year.

Similarly, tenders were already invited for the construction of 30 budget hotels. The Minister informed that the Department would also utilise the occasion of conducting the 4th Military World Games in the city to promote tourism world-wide as defence personnel from about 90 countries will be participating in the games. An eight-day cultural programme 'Vijaya' will be held on the occasion of Military World Games. Source: The New Indian Express

Originally posted by ranga in the previous thread.There is, no doubt, overwhelming response for the LANCO project.The price at which it was sold went upto Rs4250/- per sq ft.The signature tower is bound to come.The approval of International Aviation Authority,Canada is awaited.I can say optimistically that demand for ten more LANCO Size project is there in Hyderabad.

Hey tats cool man... But I surely think, by the time it completes there will be some other project which overtakes its height making it no longer remain the tallest residential tower :(

And guys please dont drag the previous thread more!!! Continue in this one!.

Exactly what I said, there is overwhelming response because of the advertisement done about signature tower. Did they open bookings for the signature tower? If so, upto how many floors.


There is, no doubt, overwhelming response for the LANCO project.The price at which it was sold went upto Rs4250/- per sq ft.The signature tower is bound to come.The approval of International Aviation Authority,Canada is awaited.I can say optimistically that demand for ten more LANCO Size project is there in Hyderabad.:cheers:

They are keeping a low profile as it has already attracted some criticism from various opposition parties.

The issues raised by the INTAC and Heritage committees have been resolved. The builders agreed to preserve the heritage structures intact and to maintain them. The earth works are in progress. The AP State Tourism Dept also has a stake in it, so we can expect some thing really cool.

We may not get to see any pics or renderings soon for fear of negative publicity...

Not only opposition parties even some from the ruling party opposed the project and wanted the site for the office of APCC shifted from Gandhi Bhavan.But one thing is certain .The 60 story building is not coming as it is not permitted in that area.

Exactly what I said, there is overwhelming response because of the advertisement done about signature tower. Did they open bookings for the signature tower? If so, upto how many floors.

They say signature tower(100 floors) is going to be taken up in the second phase.The bookings r done only for the other residential towers of 30 floors each.The overwhelming response is not a sudden development.LANCO has been marketing since last one year ever since the project was conceived.We have to wait and watch for the response of other phase consisting of commercial towers IT SEZ complex IT non SEZ complex two massive hotel Projects and the signature tower.So far 1400 flats have been booked with an initial payment of Rs2.5 lacs.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/21/stories/2007072159820300.htm
GHMC plans 2 more ROBs
HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner and Special Officer C.V.S.K. Sarma on Friday gave administrative sanction to the long-awaited road over bridges (ROBs) at Kandigal Gate and Uppuguda.

While Kandigal gate ROB was estimated to cost Rs. 23 crore, Uppuguda was likely to cost Rs. 18 crore. The estimates included the cost of construction of the two structures and also land acquisition, said Chief Engineer Dhan Singh.

In both the stretches there could be up to 120 properties to be acquired by the GHMC. Both the ROBs would be more or less of the uniform length of 800 metres and two- laners. They would have 7.5 metres of carriageway with 1.5 metre footpaths on either side. Service roads would be of 5.5 metres beside the ROBs. These new bridges would be crossing over the railway line in the old city connecting Lal Darwaza to Chandrayanagutta and its environs.

SCR share: The ROBs were necessitated because of traffic jams occurring frequently in these two stretches and public representatives of the old city had been demanding them for the last few years. The Chief Engineer said the South Central Railway (SCR) would be sharing half the construction cost for the bridge minus the cost of acquiring properties.

The railways had already cleared the plans submitted to them but a formal clearance was expected to be come pretty soon. The railways would be having its own contractor to build the portions crossing its lines while the ramp portion and rest of the 800-metre bridges would be taken up by the civic body’s contractor.

Mr. Singh said the ROBs could be ready within a year-and-a-half of awarding of the contract and once land acquisition was done. The tender process could take up to two months.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/21/stories/2007072150110100.htm
Hyderabad to be made world class
HYDERABAD: Rejecting the Opposition charge of discrimination in the release of funds to civic bodies in and around the city, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy declared in the Assembly on Friday that various works costing Rs. 26,188 crore were under way to make Hyderabad a “world class city”.

He was intervening during Question Hour when Telugu Desam and BJP members staged a walkout alleging arbitrary release of funds and faulting the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for failing to hold meetings with MLAs. The TRS and the CPI(M) members registered their protest, while the MIM charged the Government with increasing taxes.

Refuting that taxes were raised, the Chief Minister said only developmental charges for granting building permission were enhanced. He asserted that Hyderabad would witness development like never before, as special efforts were focussed to provide water supply, drainage and other basic amenities, with the population expected to double to 120 lakh in the next seven to eight years.

Listing the funds earmarked for various projects, Dr. Reddy said the Outer Ring Road was being constructed at a cost of Rs. 4,600 crore, while the Metro rail scheme was being taken up at Rs. 8,482 crore.

The other works include a Rs.2000-crore scheme for development of the old city, beautification of the Musi river (Rs. 900 crore), restoration of lakes and road-widening ( Rs. 500 crore each ), improvement of drains (Rs. 300 crore) and elevated expressway (Rs.500 crore). He announced that all areas would get daily water supply in six months...

Oops! This is in contrary to what some of our onboard experts who said it was "very lukewarm" response. :lol:

Looks like I need to add moneycontrol.com to the list of websites not to be trusted. :lol:

Lets put it the other way. Probably what they meant by good response is, complete booking in the first one hour.

Any new (on ground activity) happening south of Shamshabad?

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/21/stories/2007072160840400.htm
GHMC staff pulled up
HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner and Special Officer C.V.S.K. Sarma has pulled up the officials concerned after he noticed the tardy pace of work on flyovers and other issues like glowing of streetlights during his late night inspection on Thursday.

Dr. Sarma was furious over the slow progress of Chandrayanagutta flyover and the delay in construction of the ramp on the DRDL side. He demanded an explanation from engineers and the contractor concerned. He ordered them to complete the ramp within a week and said he would come again to check on the work...

The Nalgonda flyover undergoing construction too was criss-crossed by the Commissioner and his team including Additional Commissioners N.V.S. Reddy (Traffic & Transportation), K. Dhananjaya Reddy (Planning & Projects), Rammohana Rao (Health & Sanitation), B. Ramesh Babu (Works), Devanand (Streetlights & Parks) and others.

The road work has to be taken up on a priority basis and completed within the stipulated time since this flyover too was already delayed, he pointed out. Sewage overflow on both sides of the flyover should be checked and the issue taken up with the Water Works Department.

The GHMC officials visited the Jamia Osmania flyover which is at last ready for inauguration by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy very soon after seven years since the construction work began. Dr. Reddy would also to lay the foundation stone for the Rs.22-crore Raj Bhavan to Balkampet road.

Source : TOI

BREAK FROM TRAFFIC

Link road to ease traffic at Punjagutta

Hyderabad: For the harassed motorists of Hyderabad, any news about construction of brand new roads should be good news.

And more so if it enables at least some of them to bypass the congested Punjagutta crossroads and the Ameerpet junction. Well so it will be, though it is meant to benefit traffic moving towards Sanathnagar and Kukatpally from Secunderabad. In the process motorists riding towards Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills and Hi-Tech City will also benefit, though indirectly.

“If the heavy traffic towards Kukatpally will not traverse the Punjagutta or Ameerpet stretch the congestion is bound to be relieved,” a traffic analyst said.The new road being talked about is an alternate stretch of two kilometres which will be developed from near the Begumpet road over bridge which will touch Balkampet and Fatehnagar.

Work on the new road will begin from next month. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has awarded the Rs 22 crore contract last week. The deadline for completion of the link road is 15 months. “The contractor has already started soil testing and other preliminary investigations a couple of days ago. The road work will begin in the first week of August,’’ GHMC chief engineer R Dhan Singh told ‘TOI’.

This new road will be developed along the railway track. A bridge will also be constructed on a nala on the way to avoid land acquisition at Indira Gandhi Puram. Some portion of land from the Hyderabad Public School will be acquired for the new link road.

A bridge will also be constructed beyond Nature Cure Hospital MMTS station and at the GHMC open land to connect the road to Suprabhathnagar near Balkampet. The road from Begumpet ROB to Balkampet will be four lane and from Balkampet to Fateh Nagar, it will be a two-lane road.

While this two kilometre stretch of road is expected to be developed in the stipulated time, the GHMC is unable to carry out plans for another stretch of link road that would have eased the traffic problem to a greater extent.

The corporation had originally planned for a 5-km link road from Raj Bhavan Road to Fateh Nagar via Necklace road MMTS station, railway track, Methodist Colony, Brahmanwadi, Begumpet, Nature Cure hospital MMTS station, Indira Gandhi Puram and Renukanagar and up to Balkampet.

The link road was sanctioned under Mega City work costing about Rs 45 crore. When the corporation was about to call for tenders, residents of Methodist Colony and other colonies took objection for the land acquisition as it is in the buffer zone of the Hussainsagar. The Supreme Court would have to give clearance to the proposal.

Copyright @ flickr.com :)


Whats coming up here?

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/8997/snowqs0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/21/stories/2007072150110100.htm

With no steps being taken to bring some semblance of orderliness to the traffic which is worsening day by day it is a big joke to talk of making Hyderabad a global city.What are the qualities a city shud possess to call itself a global city? merely increase in population( which is a problem in every city in India) and skyscrapers will not make a city global.

looks very encouraging.

Advance payment of Rs 2.5 lacs each towards booking of residential flats from 1400 applicants covering a total area of 2 million sq ft and not 4 million sq ft.Money control.com report is little exaggerated.

Source : TOI
Link road to ease traffic at Punjagutta
... an alternate stretch of two kilometres which will be developed from near the Begumpet road over bridge which will touch Balkampet and Fatehnagar.

... Work on the new road will begin from next month. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has awarded the Rs 22 crore contract last week. The deadline for completion of the link road is 15 months.

... This new road will be developed along the railway track. A bridge will also be constructed on a nala on the way to avoid land acquisition at Indira Gandhi Puram. Some portion of land from the Hyderabad Public School will be acquired for the new link road.

... A bridge will also be constructed beyond Nature Cure Hospital MMTS station and at the GHMC open land to connect the road to Suprabhathnagar near Balkampet. The road from Begumpet ROB to Balkampet will be four lane and from Balkampet to Fateh Nagar... two-lane...
cool.

Hey Babji,

I was talking to my bro. in India today and he told me about how good the MMTS sys is...well the one that we have....not the one that we want. And so on...

I was just wondering how far have the phase 2 works are going? Any idea?

Source: Eenadu Hyderabad dated: July 21st

Mucherla IT Park being planned in 900 acres in Saireddyguda village part of Mucherla revenue jurisdiction of Kandukur mandal in survey number 288. Originally this was proposed to be 576 acres, but seems like government is trying to acquire farmers patta lands of about 300 odd acres. It seems that state IT secretary and other officials have visited the site on 20th and also marked the boundaries of the park on ground.

Advance payment of Rs 2.5 lacs each towards booking of residential flats from 1400 applicants covering a total area of 2 million sq ft and not 4 million sq ft.Money control.com report is little exaggerated.

I don't think so. The area of apartments at Lanco Hills vary between 1850sft and 4300sft. If we peg the average area at 2500sft and multiply it with 1400 (number of applicants/applications) then going by this logic the total area that has been booked so far totals to 3.5m.sft, still a far cry from the 2m.sft that you claim is the case.

Hey Babji,

I was talking to my bro. in India today and he told me about how good the MMTS sys is...well the one that we have....not the one that we want. And so on...

I was just wondering how far have the phase 2 works are going? Any idea?

I too heard some good feedback about MMTS. According to sources, both the SCRly and GoAP are working on the proposals for phase 2. An important aspect of Phase Two is linking Shamshabad. There could be some changes to the original proposal, but something would certainly come up soon.
Lalu seems to be learning from his experience too. He is listening to his advisros at the IR and doing some things right. Look at how quietly and nicely he improved Vizag Rly Stn (replaced the whole signalling system and added 3 new platforms within the last 1-2 years time).

Proposed (6) routes under the phase 2:
Secunderabad-Medchal (28 km), Falaknuma-Shamshabad (20 km), Secunderabad-Ghatkesar (19 km), Moula Ali-Sanatnagar (21 km), Moula Ali-Kachiguda (10 km) and Telapur-Patancheru (8 km).

I don't think so. The area of apartments at Lanco Hills vary between 1850sft and 4300sft. If we peg the average area at 2500sft and multiply it with 1400 (number of applicants/applications) then going by this logic the total area that has been booked so far totals to 3.5m.sft, still a far cry from the 2m.sft that you claim is the case.

for ur information of the total 4000 residential apts proposed to come up in 30 blocks of 30 floors each 1400 apts have been booked thru advance payment of Rs2.5 lacs per apartment.80% of the booking is for the 1850sft flats.As the demand for flats in the region of 1000sft to 2000sft is high there is a rethink for the number of flats over 1850 sft to be constructed.Of the 1400 flats booked there are many who want a flat of the size 1250sft to 1500 sft costing around Rs55lacs to Rs 65lacs.Taking these developments in to consideration total booking for 2millionsft has been arrived at.

I too heard some good feedback about MMTS. According to sources, both the SCRly and GoAP are working on the proposals for phase 2. An important aspect of Phase Two is linking Shamshabad. There could be some changes to the original proposal, but something would certainly come up soon.
Lalu seems to be learning from his experience too. He is listening to his advisros at the IR and doing some things right. Look at how quietly and nicely he improved Vizag Rly Stn (replaced the whole signalling system and added 3 new platforms within the last 1-2 years time).

It is because of the persistent efforts of Mr.Subbirami Reddy that the changes has taken place at Vizag Rly station.Why Lalu shud be applauded for this!!Now Mr.Subbirami Reddy is following up for the Vizag Airport also.

Copyright @ anaxila :)

Bharath khodo aandolan :lol:

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8420/khodote5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It is because of the persistent efforts of Mr.Subbirami Reddy that the changes has taken place at Vizag Rly station.Why Lalu shud be applauded for this!!Now Mr.Subbirami Reddy is following up for the Vizag Airport also.
True. Mr.Subbirami Reddy followed up. N Janardhana Reddy followed up.
Ppl of Vizag followed up. YSR and all the MPs from AP followed up.
But as long as things did not happen, ppl gave all the discredit to Lalu.
When things did happen, imo, Lalu deserves some credit too!

Hmm...interesting Babji. Any pics of the station?

here is an update. (no pics yet!)
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/14/stories/2007071459830300.htm
2 more platforms by next month
VISAKHAPATNAM: The Visakhapatnam railway station will have the distinction of having three new platforms in one year as the construction of two new platforms in the city railway station has been speeded up and it is likely to be completed by August. Once completed the station will have eight platforms on a par with Hyderabad, the second highest in Andhra Pradesh. This would mean that there would be 60 per cent increase in the platform capacity of the city station which would reflect in the reduction of trains’ waiting time for vacant platforms.

Vijayawada station tops the list with 10 platforms. Sources said more than 60 per cent of the civil works that includes construction of platform walls, filling of earth and concreting of the floor is over and the authorities are hopeful that trains might chug into the platforms in September.

It costs about Rs.1 crore for the construction of the platforms which is coming up in the island portion between the existing platforms five and six. Interestingly it was only in November last year platform six was opened. Once the new platforms are ready they will be named six and seven and the existing platform six will become eight. The new platforms could accommodate trains with 24 coaches They would be 600-metre-long with a width of 10.5 metres. The Railways would spend another Rs.1 crore for constructing roof to a length of 150 metres, providing water, electrical, toilets and other facilities, extending the foot overbridges (those in the middle and the north) and constructing stairs to the bridges ...

Thanks mate!

Hope they would put the modernization plans of the Sec. Rly station and other stations in the state on a fast track.

for ur information of the total 4000 residential apts proposed to come up in 30 blocks of 30 floors each 1400 apts have been booked thru advance payment of Rs2.5 lacs per apartment.80% of the booking is for the 1850sft flats.As the demand for flats in the region of 1000sft to 2000sft is high there is a rethink for the number of flats over 1850 sft to be constructed.Of the 1400 flats booked there are many who want a flat of the size 1250sft to 1500 sft costing around Rs55lacs to Rs 65lacs.Taking these developments in to consideration total booking for 2millionsft has been arrived at.

What's your source? Hearsay?

Maybe its theory of relativity.
Rail looks better with respect to roads :ohno:

Actually when MMTS was introduced it was mainly used by beggars, ticketless travellers or by those having too much free time(like me).
(despite glowing media frenzy by CBN crew)

But now commuters might have increased.



Hey Babji,

I was talking to my bro. in India today and he told me about how good the MMTS sys is...well the one that we have....not the one that we want. And so on...

I was just wondering how far have the phase 2 works are going? Any idea?

Instead repainting same bogies and calling it Metro, MMTS should get light weight aluminium coaches to allow faster start-stops.

I heard Delhi Metro has enough knowledge to implement indigenous solution for Metro. Also Delhi Metro is developed on broad guage, that is same as MMTS.
In phase X, MMTS can be further developed with more tentacles to reach areas like Kondapur. In the last phase , we can have trains starting as local train in Warangal and morphing into express train on the way to Hyderabad.

Instead repainting same bogies and calling it Metro, MMTS should get light weight aluminium coaches to allow faster start-stops.

I heard Delhi Metro has enough knowledge to implement indigenous solution for Metro. Also Delhi Metro is developed on broad guage, that is same as MMTS.
In phase X, MMTS can be further developed with more tentacles to reach areas like Kondapur. In the last phase , we can have trains starting as local train in Warangal and morphing into express train on the way to Hyderabad.

More than Five years back when TDP govt was in power the then CM Mr.C.B.Naidu was not happy with the bogie colour and some internal finish.Hence the bogies were sent back to ICF Chennai for rectifications.The then minister for state for Railways Mr.Bangaru Dattatreya was unhappy with that move as it costed the Rlys few lacs.Ever since the last five years the MMTC has undergone many changes .Frequencies were reduced.Running of MMTC between noon to 3P.M stopped due to low patronage.The number of Bogies was gradually reduced from 8 to 5 to now only 3.Issue of combined ticket for both Road and Rail transport still not commenced owing to disagreement in the fare to be fixed and sharing between APSRTC and S.C.Rly.Inspite of introducing suburban Rail transport in hyderabad with all fanfare and promise it has not picked up even after 5 years.People using this mode is very small in number around 30,000 per day.

Instead repainting same bogies and calling it Metro, MMTS should get light weight aluminium coaches to allow faster start-stops.

I heard Delhi Metro has enough knowledge to implement indigenous solution for Metro. Also Delhi Metro is developed on broad guage, that is same as MMTS.
In phase X, MMTS can be further developed with more tentacles to reach areas like Kondapur. In the last phase , we can have trains starting as local train in Warangal and morphing into express train on the way to Hyderabad.

The MMTC bogies are lightweight.Already Push and pull trains are running between secunderabad and warangal.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/24/stories/2007072458830300.htm
GHMC acquires land
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has acquired land of Bakelite Hylam measuring 3,784 square meters for proposed road widening from FCI to Fatehnagar fly-over of 100 feet road as per the Zonal Development Plan, a release from GHMC informed. GHMC has paid Rs. 62, 66, 090 as compensation the release added.

More than Five years back when TDP govt was in power the then CM Mr.C.B.Naidu was not happy with the bogie colour and some internal finish.Hence the bogies were sent back to ICF Chennai for rectifications.The then minister for state for Railways Mr.Bangaru Dattatreya was unhappy with that move as it costed the Rlys few lacs.Ever since the last five years the MMTC has undergone many changes .Frequencies were reduced.Running of MMTC between noon to 3P.M stopped due to low patronage.The number of Bogies was gradually reduced from 8 to 5 to now only 3.Issue of combined ticket for both Road and Rail transport still not commenced owing to disagreement in the fare to be fixed and sharing between APSRTC and S.C.Rly.Inspite of introducing suburban Rail transport in hyderabad with all fanfare and promise it has not picked up even after 5 years.People using this mode is very small in number around 30,000 per day.

Psst...psst....there have been changes to this story.:)

... Inspite of introducing suburban Rail transport in hyderabad with all fanfare and promise it has not picked up even after 5 years.People using this mode is very small in number around 30,000 per day.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/17/stories/2007011722810300.htm
More MMTS trains to Hi-Tec City
Representations made by software companies pay off
From 10,000 passengers, it now caters to over 47,000
Lack of coordination between SCR, RTC is the only 'hurdle'
HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway (SCR) has at last decided to increase Multi Model Transport System (MMTS) trains to Hi-Tec City from Thursday onwards, but lack of a combined rail-bus ticket and feeder bus services continues to be a dampener.

Packed trains during peak hour timings especially on the Hi-Tec City route and representations made by software companies appear to have made the SCR see reason.

84 services : SCR had announced 84 services with considerably increased speed from the current 65 services. MMTS services were started in 2003 with 47 trains with a patronage of 10,000 passengers a day that gradually rose to 39,000 passengers in December 2005. The APSRTC too began to run 50 feeder link bus services to stations after much cajoling. And just when MMTS appeared to be gaining momentum, the Railway Board sat on proposals to increase frequency, common ticket and the second phase. Soon, the RTC that was operating the feeder services albeit reluctantly, decided to withdraw them. "We were operating buses at a loss from the beginning because of poor occupancy ratio," says Regional Manager C. Pandu Ranga Murthy.

Conflicting views: SCR too kept stating that MMTS was a loss-making project despite an increase in patronage to nearly 47,000 a day in September 2006. This was said to be the result of better services and increase in commuter traffic, but RTC refused to budge on reintroducing feeder buses.

MMTS officials, however, felt RTC was competing rather than complementing the train services. When the railways approved the common ticket last year, the details were not to RTC's liking. "Railways put common pass ticket at Rs.450 with RTC's share being Rs.290 and Rs.160 for SCR, but this entailed a loss of Rs.50 to RTC as its general bus pass costs Rs.340," explained a senior official.

Acceptable solution: Despite numerous meetings both organisations were unable to reach a mutually acceptable solution for apportioning of revenue common across cities world over. "Both SCR and RTC calculate operating costs differently, hence there is no common ground," points out an official.
over 47,000 (almost 7 months ago!)

5 new fire stations for city
24 Jul, 2007 l 0149 hrs ISTlTNN
HYDERABAD: Five new fire stations and 11 new fire outposts would soon come up in the jurisdiction of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Announcing this in reply to a question by MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, Home Minister K Jana Reddy said the new fire stations were being set up keeping in mind the requirements of the city. He conceded that the existing number of fire stations in Greater Hyderabad were not according to stipulated norms and said they would be updated in a periodic manner...

Five other areas that would have a fire station are Secunderabad, High Court complex, Madhapur, Filmnagar and Himayatnagar.

Deccan Chronicle
HC puts off case by IMG
Hyderabad, July 23: A bench comprising Chief Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy on Monday heard the arguments in a writ filed by IMG Bharatha Academy challenging the action of the State government in cancelling the allotment of 450 acres made in its favour by the then TD government.

The bench adjourned the matter to Tuesday for further hearing. Senior counsel from Supreme Court Dinesh Dwivedi appearing on behalf of IMG contended that in the globalisation era respective governments were allotting land in favour of companies which have technical expertise and that there was nothing wrong in allotting more than 700 acres land in favour of IMG Bharatha.

The bench wanted to know what was the assessment made by the government before allotting such a huge extent of land in favour of the company. The bench commented that in AP, there is a trend of giving more than 200 acres of land in favour of companies. The case will be heard tomorrow.

The MMTC bogies are lightweight.Already Push and pull trains are running between secunderabad and warangal.

Part of the bogies will be made of aluminium. IR didnt have the know-how to manufacture them. Thats why they thought of importing wholesale.

Recently I read Delhi Metro people saying they can copy know-how and manufacture locally. A seperate corporation should be craved out of IR for Metro needs.

Hyderabad, July 24: Technical bids submitted by the five shortlisted consortia in the race for building the metro rail project for the city were opened by the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited here on Monday.

The bids of the potential build, operate and transfer (BOT) developers for the Rs. 8,482-crore project will now be evaluated by two technical committee teams, one led by prime consultant Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and another led by owner’s consultant - Span-SEMALY, independent of each other.

The five shortlisted consortia are Essar Constructions, SREI, Singapore MRT, SEC & STE (Singapore); Magna Allmore (Malaysia), Siemens (Germany), Emirates Trading Agency (ETA-Dubai) & Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC); Reliance Energy & Bombardier (Canada); GVK, Gammon, Alstom (France) & IDFC; Navabharat, Maytas, ItalThai (Thailand) & IL&FS. Metro rail phase one is being planned on routes of (Line 1) - Miyapur to L.B.Nagar, (L2) Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma and (Line 3) - Habsiguda to Madhapur for 66 kilometres and with 63 stations at an average interval of 1-km each.

HMR Managing Director N.V.S.Reddy expressed satisfaction over the comprehensive technical bids documents and expects both the consultants’ teams to take just about a month’s time to scrutiny the documents and give their respective recommendations to the Government.

“We want to go about it in a transparent manner by studying each and every aspect. Both consultants will meet on Tuesday to discuss the modalities of evaluation,” he said.

It ll take decades to complete this project!!!

^^ Dude.....with all the due respect…… stop bu%% #hi$i%g around.

If all you guys can come up with is one liners all the time and that too with lot of unwanted cynicism....open a wtf! thread in chaibar and do all your whining in there. I'm really getting tired of seeing one-liners with no real points behind them......grow up!

5 new fire stations for city
24 Jul, 2007 l 0149 hrs ISTlTNN


Yeah, we need a lot more of these in the city right now. Hope these are properly equipped stations rather than just namesake stations. With all the high-rise activity picking up and the development going on Hyderabad needs a solid fire department.

^^ Dude.....with all the due respect…… stop bu%% #hi$i%g around.

If all you guys can come up with is one liners all the time and that too with lot of unwanted cynicism....open a wtf! thread in chaibar and do all your whining in there. I'm really getting tired of seeing one-liners with no real points behind them......grow up!

Sh^! &p buddy!.. If you are getting tired shut your computer down and start bu%% #hi$i%g around. alrite.. who the hell are you make such f^^^in comments.. If think you are a kinda optimist and great personality come all the way to curb thins u think to bu%% #hi$. anyway if want argue or fight dont spoil hyderabad image by posting it here rather directly send msg!!!


Global wagon majors eyeing Indian market

The ambitious Rs 30,000 crore dedicated freight corridors and metro projects of various states have helped India attract global rail transport giants to invest in the country.

Three major companies, Japanese giant Toshiba, Canadian major Bombardier and GE, are looking at manufacturing wagons and coaches in the country.

A high-level delegation from Toshiba is in talks with Indian Railways for manufacturing coaches and locomotives. Canada’s Bombardier Transportation will soon set up a multi-million dollar rail car manufacturing facility in the country, while GE has picked up a 15 per cent stake in private wagon-maker Titagarh Wagons.

Other international transport majors in the queue include Mitsubishi, Alstom, Siemens and Itochu.

A senior railway ministry official said the government had talks with MNCs, including Toshiba and Bombardier, for setting up locomotives and coaches to supplement the upcoming metros and the dedicated freight corridor.

Bombardier Transportation, a group company of $15 billion aircraft-to-rail equipment maker Bombardier, will shortly set up a greenfield plant in India to make rail cars for the Delhi Metro project. Bombardier Transportation is looking at Baroda or Hyderabad for the first greenfield investment by an MNC for rail equipment.

Bombardier Transportation recently won a $590 million order for 340 rail metro cars from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Deliveries of the trains are scheduled to begin in the last quarter of 2008, with the final deliveries expected to take place in 2010 before the Commonwealth Games. In the phase-II expansion of Delhi Metro, Bombardier’s metro cars will transport 4 million passengers every day.

Rajeev Jyoti, managing director, Bombardier Transportation (India), said: “We are looking at setting up a greenfield facility either in Baroda or Hyderabad to undertake manufacturing of metro cars. Though investment details are not finalised, we are expediting the process as we have secured the Delhi Metro car project.”

Initially, Bombardier will build car bodies, bogies and the propulsion system in Germany and Sweden and later they will be shifted to the greenfield facility in India.

Meanwhile, GE Equipment Services (GEES) has entered India by picking up a 15 per cent equity stake in Titagarh Wagons, a leading domestic private wagon maker.

Besides manufacturing wagons, GEES would also set up facilities for maintenance of wagons and signalling equipment in India.

Mitsubishi Corporation is also exploring options to set up a locomotive manufacturing and maintenance facility like other global giants such as Siemens, Alstom and Itochu.

Indian Railways will require Rs 60,000 crore for completing its projects, including strengthening, modernising and creating new infrastructure. The ministry is adopting private-public partnership (PPP) to source the funds.

Psst...psst....there have been changes to this story.:)

No past is past but present man.there r changes for decline.I frequently use this service as i very much stay here and use public transport to travel in the city.:lol:

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/17/stories/2007011722810300.htm

over 47,000 (almost 7 months ago!)

The suburban rail transport in Hyderabad is not cyclic.After two peak hour services in the mornings the frequency is reduced drastically after 11 A.M .Between noon and 3P.M there r no services.After which the frequency is muted up to 5 P.M.There after the frequency is gradually increased up to 9P.M in the evenings.There is low patronage due to low frequency and indefinite timings.There is nothing to cheer about when suburban rail users r hardly around say 50000 (30000 according to a Railway official) in a metropolitan and most happening city.People in Hyderabad have this habit of using their own transport for traveling
long distances in the city.They can as well use their own transport up to the nearest suburban station from their residence,park there and use rail transport as is happening in Mumbai and Chennai.

No past is past but present man.there r changes for decline.I frequently use this service as i very much stay here and use public transport to travel in the city.:lol:

:)

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/21/stories/2007072150110100.htm

This could be the congress government's best kept plan for the city. Assembly elections are coming close and the government is getting ready to play the slog overs game.
In another 1 year we might possibly see things happening in the city at a very fast pace.

This could be the congress government's best kept plan for the city. Assembly elections are coming close and the government is getting ready to play the slog overs game.
In another 1 year we might possibly see things happening in the city at a very fast pace.
After the formation of GHMC the upkeep of the city has gone from bad to worse.Sweeping of the roads and streets have become tardy.Overflowing sewerage water is seen on most of the roads.Overflowing garbage in most of the street corners not cleared for days.No prompt action to the complaints and many complaints are left unattended despite promise from the commissioner GHMC.Street lights r burning right from 5 P.M in the evening to 6.30 A.M the next day wasting precious power.During every congress regime Hyderabad suffered.One must accept that during CBN rule that the city had a change over for the better and became a popular and happening city.YSR is a trickster.Empty talk just to attract the naive just before the coming election.

Sh^! &p buddy!.. If you are getting tired shut your computer down and start bu%% #hi$i%g around. alrite.. who the hell are you make such f^^^in comments.. If think you are a kinda optimist and great personality come all the way to curb thins u think to bu%% #hi$. anyway if want argue or fight dont spoil hyderabad image by posting it here rather directly send msg!!!



dude you should take it easy. that one liner wasn't necessary at all. also, the metro is a damn huge project costing about $2.1 billion. any project of that scale will take time, even in the most developed countries like US.
the metro is actually moving very fast. the project will def witness inception on time and NO it won't get delayed.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/25/stories/2007072559370200.htm
UK fire-fighting system mooted for skyscrapers
HYDERABAD: With more skyscraper projects coming up in the capital, the Andhra Pradesh Fire Services Department is toying with the idea of introducing British fire-fighting systems to tackle any emergencies.

An in-built fire station is to be developed within any mega township with self-closing doors, fire-fighting lobbies, separate lifts and staircases along with trained personnel in fire safety and uninterrupted power supply. In case of fire, the trained personnel will immediately swing into action using the exclusive staircases or the lifts to carry out rescue operations even before arrival of fire department personnel.

“The British method is being adopted all over the world. This will help us to bring situation under control very soon,” explains Fire-Services Director P. Venkateswar. These systems will be in addition to all the fire safety measures prescribed by the National Building Code (NBC). Such modern fire-fighting systems can be developed on the new townships with access to the main buildings. However, builders are sceptical about the proposed system and are said to have indicated that it could push up the construction cost considerably. “But, they had no answer when asked about safety of people during any fire mishap,” says an official who interacted with builders on the new plan.

The hydraulic platform vehicle currently available can handle any exigencies in buildings up to 30 metres height (10 floors). Tenders have been called to purchase another vehicle that can reach 54 metres high buildings (18 floors). Yet, it will be difficult to put off any engulfing flames on the upper floors due to increase in wind velocity as we go higher.

Water too cannot be pumped to such high levels which could result in huge property loss and human life, explains the official. “We are undertaking a detailed study for adopting the British system. We will send proposals to the Government for approval in few months time,” says another senior official.

Permissions are being sought for construction of four high-rise buildings ranging from 28 floors to 100 floors.

Deccan Chronicle
Rise in accidents worries cops
Hyderabad, July 24: Traffic police are trying to improve road infrastructure to reduce the number of accidents in the city. Nearly 2,000 people in the city 11,000 in the State are killed in road accidents every year. This has deeply worried authorities.

The number of accidents are lesser in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, though they have 20 per cent more vehicles than AP. Traffic experts and police believe that lack of adequate road infrastructure and personnel and absence of intensive patrolling are the main reasons for the spiralling accident rate. The city traffic police wants more signals, junctions, foot overbridges and road markings to bring down the number of mishaps.

They have got permission for 76 new LED signals of which four are now being installed. Foot overbridges have also come up in seven places and 27 others will be erected soon. It is the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) which is undertaking the work to improve road infrastructure on the suggestions of the traffic police.

Cyberabad traffic police has also put forth proposals to develop 15 foot overbridges and 40 traffic signal posts. Cyberabad incidentally has the highest number of road accidents in the state. "We also need more personnel to regulate traffic," said Cyberabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) P. Muni Swamy "Of the 239 junctions in Cyberabad, only 100 are manned."

However, the traffic police are not satisfied with the GHMC’s slow pace of work. They want the Bangalore model to be replicated in the city, wherein the traffic police spend the money they get from fines to improve infrastructure. "There is systematic patrolling of highways in Tamil Nadu and Haryana unlike in AP and this helps bring down accidents," said a senior traffic cop. "Our sub-inspectors are not empowered to book cases on highways, " he added.

Deccan Chronicle
State: Chandana wrote draft for IMG land deal
Hyderabad, July 24: The State government on Tuesday informed the AP High Court that IMG Bharata was in no way connected to US-based IMG World Wide or IMG Academies. A bench comprising Chief Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy heard the arguments in a writ filed by IMG Bharata Academy challenging the government’s decision to cancel allotment of 450 acres made in its favour by the then TD government.

Advocate-general C.V. Mohan Reddy informed the court that inquiries revealed that IMG Bharata had misled the government by stating that it was a subsidiary of IMG Academies of East which is a part of IMG World Wide.

At this juncture, Chief Justice Singhvi asked the advocate-general as to who had prepared the draft to finalise the deal. Mr Mohan Reddy replied that Ms Chandana Khan was principal secretary tourism at that time. The court has asked what action was initiated against the officer. The Chief Justice asked the advocate-general about the policy of the government in allotting land to companies and individuals. The advocate-general replied that there were different policies and the main objective of the government was to create wealth and job opportunities. Justice Singhvi commented that the East India Company had also entered the country by saying this and added, "We should never forget the history." The bench directed the government to submit details of duties, responsibilities and powers of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh in the next hearing.
would GoAP win this case ...

Looks like the GOAP has a good chance of coming out victorious....and gud to see that steps are being taken for building a good fire department in the city.

Cool!

Deccan Chronicle
State: Chandana wrote draft for IMG land deal

would GoAP win this case ...

IF it is proved that IMG Bharata has cheated it will be booked under sec 420 of crpc.Tomorrow if TDP or any other party forms the Govt here then they will dig out the blunders and cheatings of the present ruling dispensation. Unfortunately there are many land deals during the present regime which are scandalous.

Looks like the GOAP has a good chance of coming out victorious....and gud to see that steps are being taken for building a good fire department in the city.

Cool!
IMG bharata will win the case.GOAP is on a weak turf.There is a proper deal and sale process between IMG Bharata and then GOAP.The present govt is rescinding the deal on flimsy grounds.They r unable to prove so far that IMG Bharata is not the subsidiary of IMG academics,U.S.A.Billy rao of IMG Bharata will have the last laugh.The present GOAP lost many legal battles so far and this will be added to that list.:lol:

Its best if only news is quoted in this thread. All opinions should go to other threads or I will be forced to reply with my opinions.

IF it is proved that IMG Bharata has cheated it will be booked under sec 420 of crpc.Tomorrow if TDP or any other party forms the Govt here then they will dig out the blunders and cheatings of the present ruling dispensation. Unfortunately there are many land deals during the present regime which are scandalous.



when TDP comes to power, if it starts investigating into the land deals of present day, then news media can make a lot of money for several years. in the present govt real-estate dealings are seriously becoming a mafia. this is especially true in shamshabad/madhapur/gachibowli and other outskirts areas.

our neighbors in Eastern part of the city recently bought a peace of land in Shamshabad, i think 2 km from the airport. couple of months after buying it they realised it had already been bought by somebody else. when they went to the guy who brokered their land deal, apparently the guy got a little rough on them. these poor fellas filed a complaint with the police. the police figured out that the land dealing was made by a company whose owners are very close to a district congress leader. since then, the investigation has been "on." these ppl lost their 8 lakhs that they spent on the land, and what's worse, the legal papers of their land deal were also fraud. now, if this is the power that a district congress leader enjoys, then what of of the state legislators, cabinet ministers, and the CM himself???
so, for everybody who's trying to make hay while the sun shines, pls be cautious if you have plans to buy any land in these upcoming areas...

Hyd commuters please note:
Hyd traffic police are inviting traffic related complaints and suggestions if any.

Please utilize this opportunity and convey your suggestions:

email addresses:
trafficpolicehyderabad@yahoo.co.in,
trafficpolicehyderabad@hotmail.com,
trafficpolicehyderabad@rediffmail.com
Traffic Help line: 27852482

http://eenadu.net/district/districtshow1.asp?dis=hyderabad (second item in the list)

...these ppl lost their 8 lakhs that they spent on the land, and what's worse, the legal papers of their land deal were also fraud. now, if this is the power that a district congress leader enjoys, then what of of the state legislators, cabinet ministers, and the CM himself???
so, for everybody who's trying to make hay while the sun shines, pls be cautious if you have plans to buy any land in these upcoming areas...

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/26/stories/2007072659390300.htm
Real estate prices go through the roof Spotlight
... Re-registration of same land in the name of different persons is another major complaint that is often voiced against real estate developers. Though officials agree that some instances have come to light, they assert that it is not a major problem in Vijayawada as compared to Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. “It is better if buyers personally see the land they want to buy and check the land records before signing the sale agreement,” advises M. Srinivasa Murthy, Assistant District Registrar...

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/24/stories/2007072458160300.htm
http://i14.tinypic.com/4k9nfxg.jpg
Begumpet flyover getting ready for traffic flow. Photo: K Ramesh babu
Race against time for GHMC
HYDERABAD: It is a race against time and nature for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) as pressure mounts on it to complete the four new flyovers started one-and-half years ago and two others that never seem to see the light of the day.

All, including the four ‘modern’ ones at Punjagutta, Greenlands, Nalgonda crossroads and Chandrayanagutta, along with the Jamai Osmania and Sitaphalmandi ones have gone way beyond their scheduled dates of completion. With the monsoon becoming active, officials are cagey in setting any fresh deadlines. The GHMC claims to be ready to open Chandrayanagutta and Jamai Osmania flyover by the month-end. About others, the August 15 time frame is surely not going to be met. It is more likely that one span of the Punjagutta flyover starting from ICICI Bank to Topaz Building for traffic from Jubilee Hills to Begumpet could be opened by next month end.

The main flyover for traffic starting from erstwhile Hotel Blue Moon site towards Banjara Hills on the Jalagam Vengal Rao Park side and another span towards the M.J. college could be ready only after a good three months, concede officials. Ramp section is yet to begin on the park side while pier work is on towards the college side with down ramp work still to begin. A section of Greenlands flyover, for traffic to ply from the CM’s residence till the section where it joins the existing Begumpet flyover near Country Club, too could be ready by then.

Girders for the three piers held up due to land acquisition are being put up along with the superstructure and crash barriers at breakneck speed. The second half of the flyover crossing the railway track and dropping near HPS gate will be ready only towards the year-end.

Additional Commissioner (Traffic & Transportation) N.V.S. Reddy insists that Nalgonda crossroads flyover’s basic structure is ready but accepts that it could take up to two more months.

But no one is sure if the Sitaphalmandi flyover will be completed before December as the superstructure is not ready and few more properties are to be taken over. It is evident that starting construction without acquiring properties had proved to be a major obstacle in all cases.

recently bought a peace of land in Shamshabad, ...

Moral of the story is you cant buy peace.:)

Deccan Chronicle
Srisailam arrested
Hyderabad, July 25: Task Force sleuths on Wednesday night apprehended a historysheeter, Chinna Srisailam Yadav, at Jubilee Hills police station. Acting on a tip-off, a police party raided his residence at Yousufguda Check Post and seized foreign-made daggers and documents relating to land disputes. Police are examining the documents.

http://www.andhrabhoomi.net/hydcity.html
... Hyd West zone task force police have arrested notorious rowdy sheeter Chinna Srisailam Yadav...
would anyone know who this Srisailam is and what was his back ground...

share your opinions at "Hyd Discussions" @Chaibar ...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=14452239#post14452239

Deccan Chronicle


http://www.andhrabhoomi.net/hydcity.html

would anyone know who this Srisailam is and what was his back ground...

share your opinions at "Hyd Discussions" @Chaibar ...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=14452239#post14452239

I dont many details about him, but he did a kabzaa of my friend's relative's plot in Madhapur area (between Madhapur and Hitec City Rly station), and demanded to sell off the land for peanuts. After trying through various channels police influence through known channels in Madhapur P.S. etc., couldnt do anything. They had to sell off the land to him for a very low price. This happened about 2 years ago.

I dont many details about him, but he did a kabzaa of my friend's relative's plot in Madhapur area (between Madhapur and Hitec City Rly station), and demanded to sell off the land for peanuts. After trying through various channels police influence through known channels in Madhapur P.S. etc., couldnt do anything. They had to sell off the land to him for a very low price. This happened about 2 years ago.
Let us hope the police would be able to do some thing now at least...

Deccan Chronicle
Huda steps up pace on elevated expressway
Hyderabad, July 26: The P.V. Narasimha Rao elevated expressway project got a boost with the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) signing a memorandum of Understanding with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of a flyover at Shamshabad. Under the MoU, an underpass will also be built at Aramghar junction on the Bangalore National Highway.

“With the NHAI permission, the work on the flyover and underpass will begin in the coming days,” Huda chief engineer Vivek Deshmukh said. The projects are part of the elevated expressway project. The NHAI permission, which is mandatory to take up work on any highway, had been pending for months. The flyover would come up near the new international airport. The underpass will be built at the Aramghar junction where the expressway would end. The purpose of this underpass is to make traffic smoother on the road that connects Mehdipatnam and Chandrayangutta. Huda officials said they were under pressure to complete before March 2008 when the airport is scheduled to open.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/25/stories/2007072559370200.htm
UK fire-fighting system mooted for skyscrapers
Good news

Shows just how serious Hyd is about skyscraper and supertall development

URL:
http://i14.tinypic.com/4k9nfxg.jpg
Begumpet flyover getting ready for traffic flow. Photo: K Ramesh babu

Holy crap!

Traffic seems to have got really worse in the last three years.....:ohno:

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/27/stories/2007072750640100.htm
Threat to close 100 trade establishments
HYDERABAD: Armed with the High Court directive on Thursday, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is preparing ground for closing at least 100 top business establishments within the next one month for lacking sufficient parking space.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has with it a list of about 417 trades, including top line restaurants, malls, supermarkets, garment shops, hospitals, bars and the likes located on some of the busiest roads of the twin cities and causing major traffic problems and also for not having trade licences. “To begin with, we have decided to take action against the most problematic ones, those not having any parking space at all or very little for the customers,” affirmed Additional Commissioner (Planning & Projects) K. Dhananjaya Reddy.

Joint panel: The first 100 such establishments will be identified by a joint committee of town planning and health & sanitation officials in the next few days. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has a pretty good idea of the state of affairs so much so that it has recognised places which have built in excess of the sanctioned plan, thereby reducing the space meant for vehicular parking.

Most busy traffic areas like Himayatnagar, Begumpet, Khairatabad, Ameerpet, Banjara Hills, Malakpet, Jubilee Hills, Paradise, Abids, and so on have these establishments. The survey will also verify whether hotels and other business houses have at least 25 per cent of the space for parking or enough for its customer flow.

Before formal notices are issued to them, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is planning to come out with newspaper advertisements detailing the names and addresses of the business establishments facing the likely closure action.

Additional Commissioner (Health & Sanitation) R. Rama Mohan Rao indicated that in a few months, the drive will be taken to the other roads and outside the core area into the erstwhile municipalities too.

Source: TOI epaper

Both SEZs Will Come Up At Pocharam Village In Ghatkesar Mandal

Hyderabad: After a prolonged controversy over the location for setting up its largest campus in the country in Hyderabad, the IT bellwether Infosys has finally decided to set up two special economic zones (SEZs) instead of a single campus.
Both the SEZs will come up at Pocharam village in Ghatkesar on the outskirts of the city. While the larger SEZ will be spread in about 299.67 acres, the second one will come up in 152.32 acres.
The company is awaiting the board of approvals (BoA) nod for these proposals. According to official sources, the projects would come up for evaluation at the BoA meeting on August 8.
“We have to wait for the approval before announcing the projects. Considering the care with which the BoA is examining every single proposal, we (Infosys and the government) need to justify setting up of two SEZs at the same location,” a source explained.
Infosys has been allotted about 450 acres in Pocharam by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) recently for setting up of a facility.
In fact, the IT major had entered into an agreement with the state government for taking its largest campus plans forward in March 2006.
After the government allotted 550 acres near the proposed hardware park, the company announced a plan to invest Rs 1,250 crore and creation of 25,000 jobs over a period of 10 years. However, the land that was allotted to the company got into legal wrangles between the government and IMG.
The current location has been offered to the company as an alternative, and the company has shown interest in the location considering the growth potential on the Warangal highway, an official commented.
The land in Pocharam has been taken into control by the APIIC from the housing board. In return, the corporation had agreed to offer an equal spread of land to the board somewhere on the outskirts.
Though the location for Infy’s project has been shifted from Mamidipalli to Pocharam, the government has decided to keep the oneyear-old agreement in tact and make some amendments to it to facilitate fresh plans.

^^ Cool....tht is on our side of the town!

Awesome!

Additional Commissioner (Traffic & Transportation) N.V.S. Reddy insists that Nalgonda crossroads flyover’s basic structure is ready but accepts that it could take up to two more months.

I thought it was done. :ohno:

Source : http://www.andhrajyothy.com/districts/districtshow.asp?qry=hyd#4

Now the following projects are changed.

SIX NEW JEWELS IN HYDERABAD'S CROWN

1) PENTAGON - The IT and Commercial Hub, Poppalguda (200 acre layout at Poppalguda, near Gachibowli)
2) HUDA Minifer - The Beautiful city, Budvel (mini township project in 200 acre will comprise of villas)
3) Regal BRoadway - The Hotel Corridor - Shamshabad (150 acres hotel corridor, very next to HIAL)
4) GIGA City - The IT and Knowledge Destination (2000 acres beyond Secunderabad Cantonment)
5) Calibre SEZ - Kokapet (100 acre area close to the Financial District and HUDA Golden Mile)
6) Elixir City - The fountain of life (200 acre medical city at Ameenpur)


- 1) Pentagon is no more coming up in puppalaguda. It is shifted to Miyapur in 100 acre
- 2) HUDA Minifer - The Beautiful city is coming up in Shamshabad.
- 3) Regal BRoadway - The Hotel Corridor - Is shifted to Budvel

ORR phase I project on track

There are no obstacles to the four-lane connectivity to International Airport

Second phase of ORR set to take off in September

Most of the land acquisition for phase II completed

HYDERABAD: Though dogged by intermittent hurdles and protests, the mega Outer Ring Road (ORR) project is firmly on track.

With all the minor issues that stalled the ORR phase I work in some stretches near APPA, Chilkur reserve forest, Urdu University, HUDA colony, and graveyards being resolved and land handed over for the project, there are no more obstacles to ensure four-lane connectivity to the International Airport through the 24 km ORR first phase from Gachibowli to Shamshadbad .

“But the hurdles pushed the schedule behind by two months. Instead of December this year, the four lane connectivity would be provided by March, 2008 in time for the commencement of the International Airport at Shamshabad,” said ORR Project Director Piyush Kumar.

Connectivity to airport

The Phase I work being executed by two international companies commenced in July 2006 with a time frame of 30 months to provide eight-lane connectivity.

“However it was decided to focus on providing four-lane speedway first to provide connectivity to the Shamshabad Airport.

Though the basic road would be ready by March, 2008, access control features like underpasses, culverts, clover-leaf junctions would take some more time as some existing structures would have to be removed for critical junctions,” Mr.Piyush Kumar said.

Second phase

Meanwhile, the second phase of ORR for which four developers were selected for five packages through international competitive bidding is set to take off in September.

Most of the land acquisition for phase II was completed and 80 per cent of land losers were agreeable to the special compensation package announced by the Government.

In the case of others general award would be implemented for taking over the land. Three of the four developers have signed the development agreement and sought 60 days for mobilisation of equipment and personnel, he said.

The 61.8 km ORR Phase II A from Shamshabad to Pedda Amberpet and Narsingi to Patancheru to be taken up under annuity model would require HUDA to pay 25 per cent of the total cost amounting to about Rs.350 crore.

However, only 10 per cent of the total cost, i.e. Rs.100 crores, would have to be paid by September and that would not be a problem as HUDA has lined up some ventures to raise the resources, Mr.Kumar said.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/28/stories/2007072860410300.htm)

Japanese city offers expertise for laying new roads

GHMC will do a test run for 2 km

HYDERABAD: The Japanese city of Miyoshi has offered to provide expertise to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for laying roads where water can seep through during rains. The Corporation wants to check it out for two kilometres before trying it out in a larger scale.

The sister city of Hyderabad is also ready to share expertise on garbage handling and recycling, it was indicated during the first anniversary celebrations of affiliation agreement between both cities here on Friday. GHMC Additional Commissioner (Works) B. Ramesh Babu said it was essential for cities to learn from each other’s experiences in this era of global village.

Twin cities

The twin cities have 5,000 km of road network and 800 km of drains and through exchange programmes with the Japanese city, the infrastructure can be improved. Ex-Mayor T. Krishna Reddy, who had signed the agreement on behalf of erstwhile MCH, said he was proud of having initiated the relationship.

The Founder Advisor of Ohara School of Ikebana, Meena Anantha Narayan, gave away certificates to those who had completed certificate courses.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/28/stories/2007072861310400.htm)

^^

This could an answer to our monsoon woes. Of course, Japanese technology is synonymous with quality and durability so even better.

^^

This could an answer to our monsoon woes. Of course, Japanese technology is synonymous with quality and durability so even better.

It shud also be cost effective otherwise with frequent road digging in our country the technology will be of no use.

It shud also be cost effective otherwise with frequent road digging in our country the technology will be of no use.

I agree on the need for cost-effective technology. However, the constant seemingly impromptu digging of roads has got to do with the coordination (or the lack thereof) of the various civil infrastructure departments.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/More_parking_lots_in_busy_areas/articleshow/2241426.cms

HYDERABAD: Parking woes will come to an end in the busy areas in the city as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to construct multi-level parking complexes in the decades-old municipal markets.

To begin with, multi-level parking complexes will come up at Punjagutta, Begum Bazar, Ameerpet and Khilwat by the end of this year. Another big parking complex will come up on the seven-acre Monda Market in Secunderabad where a survey is being taken up by the corporation.

The GHMC has taken the decision following the High Court directive on parking problems three days ago. The parking complexes will be taken up on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis wherein builders construct the complexes and transfer them to the GHMC after 30 years.

The parking lots in all the specified places with have a ground and five floors (G+5). Builders have submitted plans to the GHMC saying they would earmark 30 to 35 per cent of the built-up area for parking and the rest for shops.
But GHMC commissioner C V S K Sarma has asked developers a couple of days ago to submit revised plans providing 60 per cent for parking and 40 per cent for shopping.

Developers have to allot shops to tenants at municipal marketyards where parking complexes are being planned. As of now, there are 50 tenants at Punjagutta market, 83 at Ameerpet and 130 at Begum Bazar. The developer can lease the remaining shopping area to others.

A survey is being taken up by the GHMC for the Monda Market parking complex, which will be taken in the second phase. There are nearly 300 tenants here. "If these parking complexes are completed, it would solve parking problems to a great extent," D Jagadeshwar, estate officer of the GHMC told STOI.

There are 24 municipal markets in the city and of them, the corporation has proposed to redevelop 16 markets, which include Punjagutta, Mallepally, Ameerpet, Domalguda and others. A feasible study will also be taken up by the GHMC to identify markets for construction of multi-level complexes.

Meanwhile, the GHMC has identified about 65 new parking areas on main roads and surrounding municipal circles. After clearance from the traffic police department, 'smart parking' will be provided in these areas. There are 113 parking areas that are being maintained by the GHMC.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/More_parking_lots_in_busy_areas/articleshow/2241426.cms
... There are 24 municipal markets in the city and of them, the corporation has proposed to redevelop 16 markets, which include Punjagutta, Mallepally, Ameerpet, Domalguda and others. A feasible study will also be taken up by the GHMC to identify markets for construction of multi-level complexes.
They should also build some multi level parking lots near the MMTS stations
so it would improve patronage for MMTS as well as reduce traffic congestion ...

Building projects on hold

Hyderabad, July 29: The construction industry in municipalities around the city has almost come to a standstill ever since Greater Hyderabad was formed on March 16.
Contrary to expectations that the merger of 12 surrounding civic bodies with the twin cities would give a fillip to the development of infrastructure, projects for multi-storeyed buildings worth over Rs 100 crores have failed to take off till date.

Applications for building sanction pertaining to over 20 projects including multi-storeyed buildings, malls commercial and residential complexes are awaiting approval from Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda). Builders say that each day of delay results in huge losses due to cost escalation and the interest that they would have to pay on loan money. Officials of the municipal administration and urban development are to a large extent responsible for this situation, and those of Huda to some extent.

MA&UD officials issued orders asking Huda to delegate building sanctioning powers to the GHMC, but failed to see that the orders were implemented. Huda “refused” politely to comply. Before the formation of Greater Hyderabad, Huda used to collect development charges from municipalities by approving layouts and giving building permission. After the merger, the government asked Huda to delegate these powers and duties to the GHMC. “In such a scenario, the MA&UD should have acted swiftly and cleared the ambiguity,” AP Builders Forum president Shekhar Reddy told this correspondent. He added that due to this ambiguity the builders have stopped applying for sanction of plans.

When contacted, Huda director (planning) A.V. Bhide confirmed that 20 applications pertaining to multi-storeyed buildings were pending with them. “We are waiting for clear-cut instructions from the government,” he said.

Source: Deccan.com (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#Building%20projects%20on%20hold)

Guys, I've updated the Indian Skyscraper blog (http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/)with:

HYDERABAD | Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) Trade Tower | 100 floors | 450 meters -- India's first supertall to begin construction! (http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/2007/07/29/hyderabar-andhra-pradesh-industrial-infrastructure-apiic-trade-tower-100-floors-450-meters-indias-first-supertall-to-begin-construction/)

HYDERABAD | Lanco Hills | 100+ floors & many other towers — Hyderabad’s first Supertall, World’s tallest Residential Tower (http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/2007/07/13/lanco-hills-hyderabad-hyderabads-first-supertall-worlds-largest-residential-tower/)

Please could you guys check over the posts to make sure I got all my facts straight?

Also, PM me if any of you want to be a part of the Indian Skyscraper Blog project, or check out this thread:
SSCIndia Skyscraper Blog: All about India’s Skyscraper-high Urban Future (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=498533)

Great job.

Guys, I've updated the Indian Skyscraper blog (http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/)with:

HYDERABAD | Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) Trade Tower | 100 floors | 450 meters -- India's first supertall to begin construction! (http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/2007/07/29/hyderabar-andhra-pradesh-industrial-infrastructure-apiic-trade-tower-100-floors-450-meters-indias-first-supertall-to-begin-construction/)

HYDERABAD | Lanco Hills | 100+ floors & many other towers — Hyderabad’s first Supertall, World’s tallest Residential Tower (http://indianskyscraperblog.wordpress.com/2007/07/13/lanco-hills-hyderabad-hyderabads-first-supertall-worlds-largest-residential-tower/)

Please could you guys check over the posts to make sure I got all my facts straight?

Also, PM me if any of you want to be a part of the Indian Skyscraper Blog project, or check out this thread:
SSCIndia Skyscraper Blog: All about India’s Skyscraper-high Urban Future (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=498533)

Plan for multi-storeyed parking lots in city

To be built throughpublic-private partnership mode
The tentative locations have been identified

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is planning to construct multi-storeyed parking complexes comprising six floors with at least two cellars down below, through the public-private partnership mode.

Although its earlier plan of starting four such complexes ran aground with just the one at Khilwat in Old City getting cleared, an undeterred civic body has identified 10 open spaces owned by various Government departments and public institutions.

The tentative locations having plots of an average size of each being 2,000 square meters are at University College of Women, Koti; ENT Hospital, Koti; Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet; beside IOC petrol filling station, Ameerpet; old Task Force office, Begumpet; HUDA Urban Forestry division, Erragadda, Ghasmandi, Sec’bad.

Additional Commissioner (Estates) G. Ravi Babu said that apart from these the GHMC’s Punjagutta market would also be converted into a modern municipal market with ample parking facility. He has also not given up hope of constructing the parking complex beside the Jalagam Vengal Rao Park in Banjara Hills.

The site was discounted even when GVK Group expressed interest to build it, considering that its mega mall but it was stalled after it was noticed that high tension power lines were on the way and some environmentalists too felt the green visage of the park would be spoilt.

“It will be very difficult to move on city roads if we do not have parking complexes. If we get possession of the land, the projects would be started within six months,” he adds.

But, the big if is, whether the departments or institutions currently in possession of the lands would be as eager about the plan.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/31/stories/2007073162590300.htm)

^^ The thing that puzzles me is....hadn't the MCH announced something like this an year ago!?

Floodlights for Uppal stadium likely by Oct. 1

HYDERABAD: Cricket crazy Hyderabadis may be able to enjoy the high voltage India-Australia one day international match scheduled to be held on October 5 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal under floodlights.

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA)’s ambitious floodlighting project estimated to cost about Rs. 4.5 to Rs. 5 crore is expected to be completed by October 1.

With open tenders already called for, the HCA top brass is determined to get the lights ready for the big match.

“The firm to take up this project will be identified by this week-end and we are confident of putting everything in place for the big match,” said a senior official of HCA.

More importantly, the seating capacity will be about 45,000 compared to 25,000 for the last match when India and South Africa clashed and which, incidentally was the first-ever international and a day affair in November 2005.

ICC inspection

ICC Match Referee Allan Hurst will be inspecting the venue in October first week to find out if a test status too can be accorded to Hyderabad.

Mr. Hurst will also be touring Saurashtra, Visakhapatnam and Jaipur.

He is expected to not only inspect the main stadium and the practice wickets but also the facilities available for the players including the multi-purpose gymnasium, swimming pool and other related facilities.

Hyderabad had hosted its first ‘Test’ in 1955 and the last Test it had staged was way back in 1988 – both featuring India versus New Zealand at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Fateh Maidan.

HCA is taking up the forthcoming India-Australia one day match as a very prestigious game and leaving no stone unturned to make it a memorable first day-and-night affair.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/31/stories/2007073159380200.htm)

ITS nearly 2 years the much hyped FAB project is not taking off as envisaged.People who have bought lands in the vicinity of the project involving crores of rupees in view of this project triggering price rise have burnt a big hole in their pockets.Likewise many projects announced in a grand manner by YSR and his congress Govt in and around Hyderabad r not taking off.The only progress is illegal land grabs and land mafias mushrooming.

^^ Well, on the bright side they all will have a piece of land to boast of. That isn't a bad thing to have in Hyderabad.

I thought the FAB city project is going on slowly but surely forward. Weren't there bunch of investments announced by kep chip players in the last one year?

^^ Well, on the bright side they all will have a piece of land to boast of. That isn't a bad thing to have in Hyderabad.

I thought the FAB city project is going on slowly but surely forward. Weren't there bunch of investments announced by kep chip players in the last one year?

I pass by the route most of the time,sorry to say nothing happening around to despite announcements of other chip making projects.:ohno:

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/01/stories/2007080159240300.htm
15 FOBs mooted to avert accidents
http://i18.tinypic.com/6cea7ox.jpg
HYDERABAD: Perturbed over series of fatal accidents involving pedestrians, the Cyberabad police have identified 15 places for construction of foot-over-bridges (FoBs) on the busy roads...

“We have identified 15 places and proposals have been already sent to the GHMC along with problems being faced by road users,” Cyberabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) P. Muni Swamy said.

He further stated at least four such bridges were needed on priority basis from Godrej junction to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Kukatpally following increasing road accidents.

Deccan Chronicle
PM heaps promises on State
Hyderabad, July 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday promised substantial financial aid to the State to improve agricultural productivity and readily consented to several of the 21 project proposals placed before him. Mr Singh gave these assurances while taking part in a review meeting arranged by the State government.

An elated Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy said that the State had got specific assurances from the Prime Minister on some pending projects especially in the agriculture sector. "This is the first time a Prime Minister had spent so much time to review projects in a State," he added...

The Prime Minister asked the State to increase production of rice by 50 lakh tonnes, oil seeds by 5 lakh tonnes and pulses by 3.5 lakh tonnes. He promised assistance from the Centre’s Rs 25,000-crore initiative for agriculture development. The meeting decided that the railway ministry and the State government would jointly set up a special purpose vehicle for the Rs 90,000-crore inter-city high speed rail corridor between Hyderabad and Vizag.

It decided to call tenders for the 4,000 MW Krishnapatnam power project by October and hold talks with the Japanese consortium for the pending 520 MW BPL thermal power project at Ramagundem. A detailed project report for the refinery at Kakinada will be prepared within a month. The fast track HPCL Visakhapatnam Refinery will be expanded to 8.3 million tonnes by 2008 and 10 million tonnes by 2011.

The meeting approved the Rs 367-crore project for construction of roads in extremist-affected areas and the Centre was requested to speed up clearances for bauxite mining leases to APMDC. Four national highway projects were also cleared.

Mr Singh agreed to gap funding for Hyderabad Mass Rapid Transport System and the State sought more funds for the outer ring road for Hyderabad. The State also requested the Prime Minister to consider the express highway from Begumpet to the new international airport at Shamshabad under fast track. The expansion of Visakhapatnam port from 56 million tonnes to 100 million tonnes was another project which was approved. Dr Rajasekhar Reddy sought aid for Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region at Vizag.

^^ Hmm...we always hear different versions of a story in the media these days....didn't they say that the highspeed rail corridor would be between Machilipatnam port and Hyderabad!?

Anyways let us hope that this is just a beginning in the impending rail revolution.

Nvidia development centre opened


HYDERABAD: Nvidia, a US $ 4 billion fabless semiconductor and graphics solutions company, opened its sophisticated Hyderabad Development Centre at Nanakramguda on Tuesday. President and CEO of the company Jen Hsun Huang inaugurated the facility.

Mr. Huang said that the company, which currently employed 800 people in India, would expand its operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said the company was growing fast in the region and was expecting a significant contribution towards development and design from India.

He said that Indian technocrats had their share of contribution in the company’s phenomenal growth in the last 14 years.

"In fact, their number is so big that soon some one may comment that it is any Indian company," he said.

Nvidia acquired PortalPlayer, a technology solutions provider for digital devices, which added significant capabilities in chip design. In fact, Nvidia wanted to provide all the features of a personal computer in mobile devices to produce a mobile computer.

PortalPlayer had developed all personal computing capabilities on a single chip, he said.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/01/stories/2007080159701000.htm)

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=14557288&postcount=115

:lol:

^^ ....didn't they say that the highspeed rail corridor would be between Machilipatnam port and Hyderabad!?


We even had fights over that Machilipatnam route just a few weeks back.
Some things dont change.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080259570300.htm
Decks being cleared for bus terminus project
HYDERABAD: Things are getting streamlined for the execution of the much awaited state-of-the-art bus terminus- cum-business centre at the Old Gandhi Hospital site in Secunderabad.

The HUDA invited Expression of Interest cum Request for Qualification proposal for the Rs. 475-crore centre from bidders of national and international repute with proven track record in developing major residential, commercial properties, IT Parks, business/convention centres etc. The last date for receiving EOI is August 10, said HUDA Chief Engineer Vivek Deshmukh.

The bus terminus project was finalised with coordinated efforts of various civic agencies like Railways, RTC, MCH, Traffic Police, besides HUDA to ensure conflict-free movement of different road users -- train and bus commuters, students and shoppers while addressing the severe traffic congestion in the area.

About nine acres of land at the Old Gandhi hospital site is where the modern structure with
twin towers, each with 25 floors would come up. The centre would have a minimum built up area of 30 lakh sft. including 10 lakh sft covered parking for 4,000 two-wheeler and 1,200 four wheeler parking and 3.5 lakh sft. for bus terminus and a landscaped area.

Parking space: The major impact on the traffic movement would be through shifting the bus bays from the vicinity of the railway station and creating ample parking space for those coming to the area for business and commercial purpose. Mr. Deshmukh said the bidders will have to satisfy both their technical criteria and financial capabilities sought by HUDA.

By August 20, short-listed bidders would be issued Request for Proposal.

An agency will be finalised in October and the work would commence soon after, said Mr. Deshmukh.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080253300600.htm
Rules relaxed in A.P. to benefit integrated steel plants
HYDERABAD: Even the controversy continues over the establishment of Bramhani Steels in Kadapa district, the State Government has decided to relax rules to allow incentives under its industrial policy for integrated steel plants and ferro-alloy units that use blast furnace or direct reduction technology.

As the Bramhani Steels being promoted by Karnataka MLC G. Janardhan Reddy also proposes to use blast furnace technology, it will be entitled to the incentives, including tax holiday and concession in power and water tariff for a specified period. This decision was taken by the Cabinet at its meeting here on Wednesday.

Briefing reporters, Information Minister A. Ramanarayan Reddy explained that power consumption by steel plants using either of the two technologies was minimum. Moreover, such steel plants normally had their own captive power units.

The Minister said that the Cabinet also resolved to extend incentives to greenfield steel plants using any of the two technologies. Under the industrial policy for 2005-2010, some categories of plants in the steel industry that consumed heavy power and provided employment potential, were ineligible for the incentives...

Lands to firms: The Cabinet approved allotment of 75 acres to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and 40 acres to Cognizant Technologies in the APIIC’s industrial layout at Adibhatla near here at the rate of Rs 40 lakh an acre. The Minister justified the allotment saying it was in line with the MoUs signed with the companies earlier. The TCS would invest Rs. 400 crore on the facility providing employment to 5,000 people by 2013 and Cognizant Rs 330 crore by 2012.

AP Cabinet nod for satellite townships
Created on : 08/01/2007 7:19:25 PM (NORMAL )
Hyderabad, Aug 1 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet today gave its approval for development of self-contained satellite townships along the eight-lane Outer Ring Road being developed to regulate the growth of the city.

The Cabinet allowed the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with developers and others concerned to jointly develop Srinagar and Tellapur townships, Information Minister A Ramanarayan Reddy told reporters here.

Tishman Speyer India Master fund and ICICI would hold 37 per cent equity each and Nagarjuna Construction Company 26 per cent in the Tellapur township venture, he said.

The Cabinet approved Joint Development Model for Srinagar township, permitted the HUDA to select the developor through ''Swiss challenge'' method and collected development premium of Rs 100 crore, he added.

Mr. Ranga may not like this, but here is another 2 million office space expansion.

Cognizant, TCS plan new campuses in Hyderabad
Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad -Rediff.com

August 01, 2007 18:37 IST

The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday ratified the allotment of 40 acres of land to Cognizant Technology Solutions India Pvt Ltd and 75 acres to Tata Consultancy Services [Get Quote] at Adibatla on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Briefing newsmen after the cabinet meeting, Information & Public Relations Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy said the land, currently under the state-owned AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, would be allotted to these companies at a rate of Rs 40 lakh per acre (that is, Rs 20 lakh towards land cost and Rs 20 lakh towards development charges).

The Memoranda of Understanding had already been signed with Cognizant Technology Solutions on February 24 and with TCS on April 19 this year.

While Cognizant has committed to invest Rs 330 crore (Rs 3.3 billion) and build around 20 lakh (2 million) square feet for accommodating 12,000 employees by 2012, TCS is to invest Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) and build around 15 lakh (1.5 million) sft for accommodating 15,000 employees by 2013.

"Growth of IT and ITES industry in Andhra Pradesh, more particularly in Hyderabad, is a success story. In order to reduce the congestion in Hitec City area and to open up new vistas for IT growth In Greater Hyderabad, Adibatla is the new IT destination," the minister said.

Mr. Ranga may not like this, but here is another 2 million office space expansion.

Mr. Ranga never expressed doubts on office expansions.
Anyway if you are posting news, the above comment on someone is totally unneccessary when that person is not actively posting.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080259570300.htm

The approach roads to the old Gandhi hospital site are narrow and congested.1)The road from clocktower (2) the road from Oliphant bridge,Regimental bazar,Himmatnagar side,(3) the road from New Bhoiguda and Monda market side.Further the Railway line is at an higher level and will be difficult to construct a road over bridge.It will be very difficult to expand the roads here as it involves huge money towards compensation and litigations.It is better to construct a bus station and parking space only and avoid creating twin towers with commercial and IT space. otherwise, further congestion will add to the chaos instead of solutions.:ohno:

Mr. Ranga may not like this, but here is another 2 million office space expansion.

I would have been happy if a major manufacturing industry is set up in Hyderabad.For ur information both cognizant and TCS are also expanding and creating large built up space and seats in Chennai,Coimbatore and Madurai to.IT,ITES and BPOs are coming up in all tier one cities and lately in some tier two cities in India and therefore it is not surprising if it comes to Hyderabad also.I would like IT and ITES companies setting up shops in Vijayawada,Kakinada,Warangal,Karimnagar,Nizamabad,Kurnool,kadapa for their expansion.If a major Automobile,heavy engineering,Aviation industry is set up in hyderabad with ripple effect of suppliers and component manufacturers setting up their plants it will give tremendous boost to the economy here.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/6620/icon1bgn0.jpg

This Wafer Fab township development comprises approximately 1,200 acres of Wafer fab, office, research lab, recreation, institution, commercial and residential components.

The development includes :

600 acres for the wafer fab and supporting infrastructure facilities including 6 major fabs and numerous research labs.
Approximately 30 acre as of commercial spaces to be developed into offices, shopping complex, shop houses and entertainment facilities.
Development of 200 acres of green field for 5,000 to 6,000 residential houses. The site is undulating with slope and an existing lake.
50 acres of land will be planned for public facilities including an international school, a hospital, a sports/recreation centre and a cultural attraction.

FORTUNE FIELDS
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5221/icon8bmy6.jpg
Embassy and Indu Projects Consortium is developing an integrated modern township at Kukatpally. Being built on 65 acres of prime land situated at Kukatpally, Hyderabad, the location of the project is in close proximity to Hi-Tech City – the Cyber capital of Hyderabad.

NEXUS
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1371/icon1ym9.jpg
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9816/icon2bgg7.jpg
This mixed development comprising shopping malls, multi-storey carpark, premium residences and hotel occupies 9 acres of prime land in Hyderabad.

The rectilinear layout of the site allows for the juxtoposition of various activites that seamlessly blend in to form a wholesome complex. Avenues such as a food street, activity corridors, link bridge plazas and roof gardens provides for synergies between various activities. Extensive commerical frontage is a conscious attempt to provide visual perforation to the entire length of the site

http://www.surbana.com/projectshowcase/india.html

^^ Hmm...we always hear different versions of a story in the media these days....didn't they say that the highspeed rail corridor would be between Machilipatnam port and Hyderabad!?

Anyways let us hope that this is just a beginning in the impending rail revolution.

It appears the much hyped hi-speed rail project did not attrack our PM. See the link
http://www.greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=1737&cat=15&scat=20

It appears the much hyped hi-speed rail project did not attrack our PM. See the link
http://www.greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=1737&cat=15&scat=20

PM would have said 'NO' on just seeing the cost of the project : 90,000 crores, while the actual GDP of AP is itself less than 1,00,000 crore.

The approach roads to the old Gandhi hospital site are narrow and congested.1)The road from clocktower (2) the road from Oliphant bridge,Regimental bazar,Himmatnagar side,(3) the road from New Bhoiguda and Monda market side.Further the Railway line is at an higher level and will be difficult to construct a road over bridge.It will be very difficult to expand the roads here as it involves huge money towards compensation and litigations.It is better to construct a bus station and parking space only and avoid creating twin towers with commercial and IT space. otherwise, further congestion will add to the chaos instead of solutions.:ohno:

may be u r right.

I would have been happy if a major manufacturing industry is set up in Hyderabad.For ur information both cognizant and TCS are also expanding and creating large built up space and seats in Chennai,Coimbatore and Madurai to.IT,ITES and BPOs are coming up in all tier one cities and lately in some tier two cities in India and therefore it is not surprising if it comes to Hyderabad also.I would like IT and ITES companies setting up shops in Vijayawada,Kakinada,Warangal,Karimnagar,Nizamabad,Kurnool,kadapa for their expansion.If a major Automobile,heavy engineering,Aviation industry is set up in hyderabad with ripple effect of suppliers and component manufacturers setting up their plants it will give tremendous boost to the economy here.
ok. we should keep trying to woo some major industries to come to Hyd.
and yes. we should also celebrate and encourage the IT and ITES firms who are coming to/expanding at Hyd.

are there any suggestions to attract major industries to Hyd ...
and to attract IT and ITES companies to Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kurnool, kadapa etc...

It appears the much hyped hi-speed rail project did not attrack our PM. See the link
http://www.greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=1737&cat=15&scat=20
and who is this great detective who broke this case ...
did not find any name with this great story ...

PM would have said 'NO' on just seeing the cost of the project : 90,000 crores, while the actual GDP of AP is itself less than 1,00,000 crore.
is there any rule that the cost of any infra project in the state should not exceed the GDP of the state ...

http://www.surbana.com/projectshowcase/industrial/fabCity/fabCityP.html
FAB CITY
This Wafer Fab township development comprises approximately 1,200 acres ...

The development includes :
600 acres for the wafer fab and supporting infrastructure facilities...
Approximately 30 acre as of commercial spaces ...
Development of 200 acres of green field for 5,000 to 6,000 residential houses...
50 acres of land will be planned for public facilities ...

very interesting.
Thanks for the update @cochin S R. and welcome to the SSC forums.

self deleted - duplicate post

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/03/stories/2007080360170400.htm
Master Plan-2020 in a month
HYDERABAD: The Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) has constituted a committee to look into the public suggestions and objections over the HUDA’s draft revised Master Plan-2020 that was put for public display recently.

Principal Secretary (MA &UD) S.P. Singh told The Hindu that about 2,000 suggestions and objections had been received. Most of them were related to master plan roads, lands marked for conservation and specific cases where roads c utting across water bodies, housing colonies. “Every suggestion will be looked into and teams will go for inspection to assess the ground reality, see the merit of a suggestion and take a view. In a month’s time, the Master Plan-2020 will be notified,” Mr. Singh said.

The exercise thus makes the draft master plan for the erstwhile non-MCH area of 2,000 sq. km most debated and discussed document in the recent years. In fact this was the second time round public suggestions and objections were invited. HUDA had earlier invited public suggestions in 2003.

But subsequently several new projects like ORR, satellite townships, sky scraper zone, growth corridor were announced by the Government necessitating their incorporation into the revised draft Master Plan. Thus the MA&UD put the draft Master Plan on display again recently for public suggestions before finalising it.

Conservation zone : “Bulk of the suggestions is from those whose lands may be affected by master plan roads and who prefer alternatives and those whose lands fall under conservation zone,” Mr. Singh said.

Clarifying on conservation zone, Mr. Singh said a Master Plan was planned for future development, for the next 10 to 20 years and conservation zone should be understood as one presently under agriculture and amenable for future land use change to residential or commercial depending upon the future requirements. The national policy was also liberal towards change of conservation zone into residential zone based on trend analysis and infrastructure availability, he added...

I would have been happy if a major manufacturing industry is set up in Hyderabad.For ur information both cognizant and TCS are also expanding and creating large built up space and seats in Chennai,Coimbatore and Madurai to.IT,ITES and BPOs are coming up in all tier one cities and lately in some tier two cities in India and therefore it is not surprising if it comes to Hyderabad also.I would like IT and ITES companies setting up shops in Vijayawada,Kakinada,Warangal,Karimnagar,Nizamabad,Kurnool,kadapa for their expansion.If a major Automobile,heavy engineering,Aviation industry is set up in hyderabad with ripple effect of suppliers and component manufacturers setting up their plants it will give tremendous boost to the economy here.

True, but only market dynamics can drive that shift. The govt. is trying to setup I.T shops in Vizag for a long time. The I.T industry(in Vizag) is just staring to take shape now.. My point of view is any private investment is better than none as long as the state govt. coffers are getting filled..

ok. we should keep trying to woo some major industries to come to Hyd.
and yes. we should also celebrate and encourage the IT and ITES firms who are coming to/expanding at Hyd.

are there any suggestions to attract major industries to Hyd ...
and to attract IT and ITES companies to Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kurnool, kadapa etc...
To attract IT and ITES companies to tier two cities in A.P the State Govt here should lead the way.They must establish IT parks to attract companies here initially. Once the process gathers critical mass then the tier two cities will attract pvt investments to set up IT and BPO infrastructures.This way they can decongest Hyderabad.The state GOVT and institutions like APIIC should focus on attracting large greenfield mfg industries by conducting road shows and other means highlighting the advantages of setting up in Hyderabad.when top technical and engg institutes like BITS Pilani and IIT are going to be established here the Govt here can take advantage and bid for large mfg industries.

and who is this great detective who broke this case ...
did not find any name with this great story ...


is there any rule that the cost of any infra project in the state should not exceed the GDP of the state ...

I saw some news artciles talking about AP Govt and Railways joint participation in taking this project forward. I hope this project takes shape soon... Does anyone know what was decided on this at PM meet in Hyd?

I saw some news artciles talking about AP Govt and Railways joint participation in taking this project forward. I hope this project takes shape soon... Does anyone know what was decided on this at PM meet in Hyd?

PM did not show any enthusiasm and just said he would look in to it.Montek singh Ahluwalia, Deputy commissioner planning commission simply laughed it away much to the visible embarrassment of CM.Railways r not all interested from the beginning.The project is as good as dead for now.

is there any rule that the cost of any infra project in the state should not exceed the GDP of the state ...

I cannot agree with you more on this! I am rather amused by these short-sighted individulas who bring their personal frustrations and outdated & uninspired ideologies into these forums.

You don't wait for business to set their units up and then build supporting infrastructure. You first build top-notch infrastructure and then hardsell yourself to these businesses. :|

and who is this great detective who broke this case ...
did not find any name with this great story ...


is there any rule that the cost of any infra project in the state should not exceed the GDP of the state ...

Theres no rule like that. India in need of better infrastructure to attract more investments. I accept that. But how can u expect railways to spend such huge amount in a single pjt, when still hundreds of KMs of rail lines to be converted to broad gauge[leave alone electrification]?

There are many key infrastructure pjts which are waiting for the funds and it would be worth to complete them rather than spending huge amt in one pjt.

When the Maharastra govt, build MPE, the first expressway most people said it is a crazy way of spending money on one road from Mumbai to Pune.

Look what it did to Pune's economy. Despite a limited airport and not so good railway connection(I mean no high speed), the expressway made it connect very well to Mumbai and just gave the spur to the economy.

Lessons to be learned: We do not necessary have to do it like China, pumping in huge money, but should have some foresights in spending to boost the local economy.

I cannot agree with you more on this! I am rather amused by these short-sighted individulas who bring their personal frustrations and outdated & uninspired ideologies into these forums.

You don't wait for business to set their units up and then build supporting infrastructure. You first build top-notch infrastructure and then hardsell yourself to these businesses. :|

well said!

... But how can u expect railways to spend such huge amount in a single pjt, when still hundreds of KMs of rail lines to be converted to broad gauge[leave alone electrification]?...
perhaps you missed out some of the details. no one is asking IR to invest/spend huge amounts of money right away. Its gonna be a BOT/PPP type project. GoAP and IR will have a share in investment, manage the project and ultimately become joint owners of the project...

Deccan Chronicle
PM heaps promises on State
Hyderabad, July 31: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday promised substantial financial aid to the State to improve agricultural productivity and readily consented to several of the 21 project proposals placed before him. Mr Singh gave these assurances while taking part in a review meeting arranged by the State government...

The meeting decided that the railway ministry and the State government would jointly set up a special purpose vehicle for the Rs 90,000-crore inter-city high speed rail corridor between Hyderabad and Vizag. ...
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/13/stories/2007071353470700.htm
A.P. plan for bullet trains
HYDERABAD: Bullet trains are being planned in Andhra Pradesh. If everything goes well with an ambitious project on the cards of the State Government, the work for introducing India’s first bullet train between Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam via Vijayawada, will be grounded next year.
Travelling at a speed of 200 kmph, the hi-tech train will take just two hours to cover the 275-km distance between Vijayawada and Hyderabad which at present takes five hours. The service is proposed to be extended up to Chennai at a later stage.

Two other routes have been selected for the project to connect Hyderabad with Mumbai and Bangalore. An elevated track for a length of 3,000 km will be built for the three “high speed corridors” for the bullet trains. A massive sum of Rs. 2 lakh crore will be spent on the project. “Nothing is impossible these days when private-public partnership is available,” Transport Minister K. Lakshminarayana said here on Thursday after Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy held detailed discussions with officials on the project...

I cannot agree with you more on this! I am rather amused by these short-sighted individulas who bring their personal frustrations and outdated & uninspired ideologies into these forums.

You don't wait for business to set their units up and then build supporting infrastructure. You first build top-notch infrastructure and then hardsell yourself to these businesses. :|

Why anybody get frustrated if Andhra plans Bullet trains.Why drag Indian Railways in to it.The Indian Railways have got other priorities like gauge conversions,electrification of tracks,laying of new lines,replacing rolling stocks and track repairing and replacements.A.P has already piled up huge debts which has crossed Rs100,000/- crores till now.Adding another 100,000 crores for the Bullet train project is no problems.What gains or loss this project in the long sight brings only future will tell.

http://www.surbana.com/projectshowcase/industrial/fabCity/fabCityP.html


very interesting.
Thanks for the update @cochin S R. and welcome to the SSC forums.
But WHY WHY the project still not moving forward?

some interesting links about FABCITY ...

http://www.fabcity.in/fab-city/about-fab-city.html

Phase 1: (07/08) investment of US$1 billion; the assembly and testing phase.
Phase 2: (08/10) investment of US$2 billion; the construction of the actual chip manufacturing facility and leading to the production of semiconductor chips.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1955715.cms

Fab to stay put in city
26 Apr 2007, 0317 hrs IST,TNN
... While the first project of SemIndia at Fab City — an assembly, test, marking and packaging (ATMP) facility — would be ready in 12 months from now, the core fab is expected to become operational in the last quarter of 2008-09...

Alas Hyderabad too is facing decline in demand for both office and residential space as seen from this link.http://hyderabad.mylifemysite.com/hyderabad-a-real-estate-update-151.html

^^ These things will happen...sometimes the market goes up and sometime it is the other way round. But people got to realize that there is a limit to how far a city can expand horizontally. Unfortunately, Hyderabad is nearing its limits for horizontal expansion.

The only way to go is up. I think it won't be long before the rules for vertical growth will be relaxed within the city...especially with the airport being away from the core of the city. It would just a take a bit of time...that is it.

The horizontal limits would be expanded once the ORR projects are implemented.

Traffic Interceptors

http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/04/images/2007080460080401.jpg

HYDERABAD: After surveillance cameras and speed laser guns, the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has now procured five Interceptor vehicles to keep a check on the traffic rules violators in the State.

Costing Rs. 35 lakh each, the interceptor vehicle is equipped with a pollution testing kit, breath analyser, speed laser gun and a surveillance camera atop. Roaming around twin cities, the interceptor vehicles will record the different offences committed by traffic violators and based on the recordings, challans will be issued to the respective offenders, said a senior transport official.

Presently, trial run of the vehicles was being conducted in Hyderabad and would be operated very shortly. While city police, RTA Khairatabad and Ranga Reddy district would have one interceptor vehicle each, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam would get the rest.

“It is a multipurpose vehicle and Delhi police have found it much beneficial. It would make take road safety enforcement to a new level,” said the official.

GHMC To Crackdown On Illegal Structures, Garbage Dumps

Source: TOI epaper

Hyderabad: A special enforcement wing will be created to carry out demolition of illegal structures, encroachments, illegal parking bays and prevent unauthorised dumping of garbage on roads.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has come up with this set- up which is likely to come into force next week.
To begin with, the corporation wants to introduce this system in some areas especially in thoroughfares for a period of one month and then extend it to other areas.
Under this system, the city would be divided into blocks and each block will be headed by a supervisor with representatives of all wings like town planning, health and sanitation in it.
The city expanse is now 625 square kilometres with the amalgamation of surrounding municipal areas into the MCH area after the formation of Greater Hyderabad. The corporation has proposed to create 500 blocks, with each unit having a jurisdiction of one sq kilometre. The members will be drawn from the field staff of the respective areas.
As of now, there is no special enforcement cell with the corporation. Whenever there are demolitions, assistant city planners have been engaging casual workers to take up demolitions. Also, there is no special wing to curb illegal dumping and removal of encroachments.
In the new set-up, the corporation would have a central wing at the GHMC head office. At the block level, local-level officers will be in charge of the each block. If encroachment of open spaces, footpaths or illegal constructions are smaller in scale, the block officer will take action at the block or zonal level. For major encroachments, the central team will get into action.
For unauthorised dumping of garbage into bins by function halls and littering roads, the staff will collect fines from commercial establishments. Five per cent of the penal amount collected by field-level officers towards unauthorised dumping of garbage and other offences will be given to them as a cash reward.
“If they are given rewards, the field-level staff will work as enforcement officers with commitment. We want to first create awareness among traders and people not to dump garbage or litter the road,’’ an additional commissioner said.

Traffic Interceptors

http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/04/images/2007080460080401.jpg

HYDERABAD: After surveillance cameras and speed laser guns, the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has now procured five Interceptor vehicles to keep a check on the traffic rules violators in the State.

Costing Rs. 35 lakh each, the interceptor vehicle is equipped with a pollution testing kit, breath analyser, speed laser gun and a surveillance camera atop. Roaming around twin cities, the interceptor vehicles will record the different offences committed by traffic violators and based on the recordings, challans will be issued to the respective offenders, said a senior transport official.

Presently, trial run of the vehicles was being conducted in Hyderabad and would be operated very shortly. While city police, RTA Khairatabad and Ranga Reddy district would have one interceptor vehicle each, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam would get the rest.

“It is a multipurpose vehicle and Delhi police have found it much beneficial. It would make take road safety enforcement to a new level,” said the official.

I am of the opinion that Hyd police unnecessarily wastes money where-in there could be other means of solving the problems....so what if Delhi has interceptors and found it useful ? will it benefit Hyd ? does Hyd have the roads delhi has ?

First educate the frikkin' traffic cops ( or traffic lads I should say ) who let misuse, chaos happen right under their very noses....if they need training hire and send them to other states ( TN for example) to learn how they manage the traffic better there....invest money on the ground to address their training needs and then look at the next level in terms of survellience cameras at the junctions, interceptors etc

http://s92104868.onlinehome.us/blog/blog-images/116671262320_hyd_shopping_mall.jpg

http://s92104868.onlinehome.us/blog/blog-images/116671262320_hyd_shopping_mall.jpg

nice building. could it be the APSRTC MD's office near RTC X-rodas ...

Hmm... but wasn't it constructed like 8 or 9 years ago?

I remember going there once... not sure why!? Or am i mistaking it to the Function hall they have there....which is quite big...

APSRTC fears metro rail

Hyderabad, Aug. 5: Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation fears that the metro rail project will pose a major threat to its viability. APSRTC earns Rs 100 crores every year in the city region, making the corporation financially viable even though it incurs huge losses in other parts of the State. Every day the corporation carries 36 lakh passengers to various destinations with its fleet of 2,300 buses in the Hyderabad region. But the numbers are likely to fall if the metro rail transports the 15 lakh passengers it is expected to on three major routes, Miyapur-L B.Nagar (30 km), Jubilee Bus Station-Falaknuma (15 km) and Hubsiguda-Shilparamam (22 km), every day.

Apprehensive at the developments vis-à-vis the metro rail project, APSRTC has approached the government asking that the corporation be involved in the policy making decisions of the mass rapid transport system. "We have written two letters but there was no reply from the government," said an APSRTC official. He said that co-ordination between metro rail and APSRTC authorities is a must to reach a win-win situation.

"The bus connectivity from the metro stations to other parts of the city is essential. Otherwise, many passengers will not prefer metro rail in spite of its advantages," he added.

The project is expected to be operational from 2009. The government is likely to finalize the consortium to take up the project at a cost of Rs 8,482 crores by September, 2007. However, the five consortia that are vying for the deal are concerned about the profitability of the project. since metro rail systems are incurring loses in other parts of the world.

Source: Deccan (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#APSRTC%20fears%20metro%20rail)

Ok....is it me or does everyone agree that APSRTC should not be involved in the policy making decisions of the Hyderabad Metro rail. Why the hell should they have a say in the "policy" making of another independent body?

I agree that both the HMRC and APSRTC could work together in cordianting feeder services etc. but having a say in policy making is absolutely stupid.

GHMC apathy to cost Rs 100 cr

Hyderabad, Aug. 5: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has not handed over several project sites to contractors causing inordinate delay in development works worth Rs 100 crores. They include works relating to construction , development of junctions and repair of nalas. Some of them are stuck midway while others have not even taken off so far.

GHMC authorities are now planning to cancel several contracts which have been delayed and call new tenders. Many of these works were sanctioned in 2005 but officials have not handed over project sites to contractors even after two years. For instance, the junction improvement work at Roads No 1, 10 and 12 in Banjara Hills were given to two contractors in August 2005. The works, estimated to cost Rs 50 lakhs, haven’t started yet, the reason being the GHMC’s failure to hand over the sites to the contractors. GHMC officials ascribe this to the delay in shifting electricity poles and water lines. Junction improvement works at Saidabad, Divya Shakti Apartment road at Ameerpet, Puranapul and KCP junction at Somajiguda are also getting delayed because of similar reasons.

Contractors are flustered and afraid that they would be forced to undertake the projects at same rates after a lapse of two years without taking the cost escalation into account. Works worth Rs 50 crores relating to remodelling of drains and construction of roads are also pending.

GHMC commissioner C.V.S.K. Sarma and additional commissioner (projects and planning) K. Dhanunjaya Reddy admitted to delays in handing over project sites.

Source: Deccan (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#GHMC%20apathy%20to%20cost%20Rs%20100%20cr)

Deccan Chronicle
Cyberabad cops to stay out of reach for public
Hyderabad, Aug. 5: Some citizens of Cyberabad will have to travel more than 30 km to lodge complaints or use services offered by the police commissionerate. The office will be shifted from its current location at Lakdikapul in the city centre to Telecom Nagar in Gachibowli on the city outskirts, in a month.

"The new commissionerate will be spacious with an integrated control room and several people-friendly facilities," said Cyberabad police commissioner S. Prabhakar Reddy. However, in terms of distance, the new office will be at least 30 km from police stations under its jurisdiction like Medchal, Malkajgiri, Ibrahimpatnam, Hayatnagar, LB Nagar, Vanasthalipuram, Uppal, Pet Basheerabad, Alwal, Saroornagar, Shamirpet, Neredmet and Nacharam, Kushaiguda, Keesara and Ghatkesar, which are scattered in different directions on the periphery of the city.

"People needing to utilise administrative services including passport verification and police clearance will need to travel at least two hours to reach the place from Hayatnagar or Ghatkesar," admitted a senior police official. However, the police commissioner said that the people would not be put to any inconvenience. "The public will come to the new building as they used to come to the old premises in Hyderabad city," Mr Prabhakar Reddy stated.

Officials said that the Cyberabad commissionerate was split up into three zones, each headed by a deputy commissioner of police who was assisted by two assistant commissioners of police. "The zonal offices will be located in LB Nagar, Pet Basheerabad and at the head office to make it convenient," Mr Prabkahar Reddy said.
the good news is, the ground is now clear for the second (parallel) bridge at Lakadikapul
the bad news is, the new police commissionerate is not gonna be accessible by MMTS nor MRTS.
one has to take the road all the way ...

Related news on the problems facing GHMC...from Hindu.com

GHMC engineering wing feels the squeeze

Department struggling to execute new works
5,019 works costing up to Rs. 146 crore taken up
Another 4,324 works costing Rs. 300 crore in the pipeline

HYDERABAD: After the town planning wing, the engineering wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is a favourite punching bag and is now feeling the squeeze after formation of the gigantic civic body.

More (http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/06/stories/2007080659100300.htm)

APSRTC fears metro rail



Source: Deccan (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#APSRTC%20fears%20metro%20rail)

Ok....is it me or does everyone agree that APSRTC should not be involved in the policy making decisions of the Hyderabad Metro rail. Why the hell should they have a say in the "policy" making of another independent body?

I agree that both the HMRC and APSRTC could work together in cordianting feeder services etc. but having a say in policy making is absolutely stupid.
u r right. GoAP would never bend on this.
Once thriving APSRTC is already messed up because of their own mis-management and corruption ...

Huda to protect 87 lakes
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) will take up conservation and protection of 87 notified lakes. Huda authorities will send out letters to 18 mandal revenue officers (MROs) to know the status of water bodies in their jurisdiction.

There are over 160 water bodies located in and around the city. Of them, 87 lakes have been taken over by Huda by removing encroachments. Simultaneously, the urban body has taken up conservation and treatment of these water bodies under the 'Green Hyderabad Environment Programme' (GHEP).

The prime objective of this programme is to increase green cover in the Hyderabad Development Area with conservation, treatment and management of 87 lakes in the megapolis.

The urban development authority has listed these lakes under two categories.

Under category-1, 18 lakes have been identified as highly polluted where sewerage treatment plants (STPs) have been installed, while the remaining 69 have been listed in the category-II.

The sewerage treatment plants have been installed at three highly-polluted lakes—Safilguda, Saroornagar and Langer Houz.

"Now, Huda is planning to develop the remaining lakes by tapping funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)," Huda executive engineer (development) S Jayachandra told TOI.

In fact, Huda claims it is the duty of revenue and irrigation department officials to protect these lakes from encroachers. But these two departments have failed to do their job and neglected them, he said.
Source: TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Huda_to_protect_87_lakes/articleshow/2258013.cms)

Economictimes article dated Aug 1,2007 (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/AP_govt_allots_land_to_TCS_Cognizant/articleshow/2249031.cms)

APSRTC fears metro rail

Hyderabad, Aug. 5: Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation fears that the metro rail project will pose a major threat to its viability. APSRTC earns Rs 100 crores every year in the city region, making the corporation financially viable even though it incurs huge losses in other parts of the State. Every day the corporation carries 36 lakh passengers to various destinations with its fleet of 2,300 buses in the Hyderabad region. But the numbers are likely to fall if the metro rail transports the 15 lakh passengers it is expected to on three major routes, Miyapur-L B.Nagar (30 km), Jubilee Bus Station-Falaknuma (15 km) and Hubsiguda-Shilparamam (22 km), every day.

Apprehensive at the developments vis-à-vis the metro rail project, APSRTC has approached the government asking that the corporation be involved in the policy making decisions of the mass rapid transport system. "We have written two letters but there was no reply from the government," said an APSRTC official. He said that co-ordination between metro rail and APSRTC authorities is a must to reach a win-win situation.

"The bus connectivity from the metro stations to other parts of the city is essential. Otherwise, many passengers will not prefer metro rail in spite of its advantages," he added.

The project is expected to be operational from 2009. The government is likely to finalize the consortium to take up the project at a cost of Rs 8,482 crores by September, 2007. However, the five consortia that are vying for the deal are concerned about the profitability of the project. since metro rail systems are incurring loses in other parts of the world.

Source: Deccan Chronicle (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#APSRTC%20fears%20metro%20rail)

Ok....is it me or does everyone agree that APSRTC should not be involved in the policy making decisions of the Hyderabad Metro rail. Why the hell should they have a say in the "policy" making of another independent body?

I agree that both the HMRC and APSRTC could work together in cordianting feeder services etc. but having a say in policy making is absolutely stupid.

MRTS could very well prove to be the missing link in APSRTC's profit chain in the long run through feeder buses.

APSRTC needs to upgrade its current dilapidated fleet as well. Aesthetics apart, the modern fleet must have less seats and more foot-room (standing space, if you will) for the commuters.

The Parisian (and Ile-de-France) public transport network is so amazingly efficient that we got to rope them in as consultants for our PT needs.

APSRTC should understand one thing. HYDERABAD METRO is not there to compete against APSRTC But rather to COMPLIMENT APSRTC. Together interconnected they can better surve the desperate need of a dying, desperate, clogged Hyd basic infrastructure with the least possible road space of all the major Indian metropolitans.

This thread has 7530 views in 18 days. Assuming on the average, people visit here once in two days, it would amount to
about 830 people who follow this thread!
I forgot my school math, so correct me.

This thread has 7530 views in 18 days. Assuming on the average, people visit here once in two days, it would amount to
about 830 people who follow this thread!
I forgot my school math, so correct me.

Going by the 'unique views' logic and the data provided by you it comes to about 837 people (836.67 to be precise). Although you can conveniently round it off to 840, 830 is a pretty close figure as well.

Off the top of my head, the actual figure must be close to a 100 give or take.

^^ don't forget a lot of us visit multiple times a day - i've looked at this thread 3 times today and i'm sure that's less than the views by most HYD forumers..

but yeah, impressive numbers for sure..

:)

APSRTC fears metro rail



Source: Deccan (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#APSRTC%20fears%20metro%20rail)

Ok....is it me or does everyone agree that APSRTC should not be involved in the policy making decisions of the Hyderabad Metro rail. Why the hell should they have a say in the "policy" making of another independent body?

I agree that both the HMRC and APSRTC could work together in cordianting feeder services etc. but having a say in policy making is absolutely stupid.



B.S. the laggards can't manage their own stuff and now they want to meddle with the metro. hell no. this is never gonna happen. YSR isn't that stupid.

GHMC to widen 44 roads in suburbs

Central Government to be approached for funds under JNNURM

HYDERABAD: Just when people living in the 12 erstwhile municipalities have been wondering if their woeful infrastructure would see some improvement, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has readied plans to build modern roads on key stretches.

Altogether, 44 roads were identified for development of which 21 will be taken up within a month once the detailed project reports are made available. These roads to be taken up in the first phase have a free right of way and therefore properties acquisition could be limited or not necessary at all.

Proposals to Centre

“We will be submitting proposals to the Centre for getting funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Simultaneously, we will also be processing the estimates for the work,” disclosed Additional Commissioner (Planning & Projects) K. Dhananjaya Reddy.

He pointed out that the key roads identified in the suburbs have widths ranging from 60 to 150 ft at different places and the effort would be to take up the work as per the road development plan. “The work will include widening, construction of central media, streetlights, storm water drains, sewer lines and common duct for all cables,” explained Mr. Reddy.

The cost is expected to be about Rs. 70 crore considering the works proposed for improving the roads. Each of the erstwhile municipalities has two or three main roads which need to be developed. The sewer lines could be taken up in association with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), he said.

Most of these suburbs also have pretty narrow lanes and bylanes since they are all panchayat layouts. The rest of the 24 roads will be developed once the road development plans are made ready.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/07/stories/2007080774370100.htm)

http://www.cyberabadtimes.net/2007/08/begumpet-airport-will-live.asp
Begumpet Airport will live
When the 80-year-old Begumpet Airport closes for commercial operations in March next, it is not going to be an aviation relic.

The agreement between the developer of the new airport at Shamshabad has a clause that mandates closure of Begumpet airport for civilian operations. It, however, allows VIP movement and defence operations. The airport, which has become busier than the local bus-stand thanks to the boom in the aviation industry in the last three-four years, would be taking care of the VIP traffic, defence operations and training facilities as per the concessional agreement.

Not just this, the State and Central Governments are planning to make the airport a good base for the training academies. Allowing operations of private charters too would be a potential option."Forecasts say the charter business is likely to take off in the next few years. This will be a good opportunity,' Government sources told Business Line. "Also, more and more academies would come up in the State as the new airport is likely to encourage several airlines to make Hyderabad their hub, triggering demand or skilled human resources. We are also telling them (the academies) to use the smaller airports like Vijayawada and Warangal," the sources said.

The agreement between the developer of the new airport at Shamshabad (GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd) has a clause that mandates closure of Begumpet airport for civilian operations. It, however, allows VIP movement and defence operations.

However, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on transport strongly objected to the closure. "We fail to understand as to why such kind of concessional agreement was signed when the Ministry itself was of the opinion that the present terminals could be utilised at least for one more decade," it had observed, asking the Government to reconsider the decision.

Stating that the decision was taken following recommendations of the Task Force on Infrastructure, it said "manmade and natural limitations" could hinder the growth of the Begumpet airport in the future.

Ruling out a second thought on the issue, it said any rethinking at this stage would amount to default. "Besides, this would create uncertainty in the minds of prospective future investors on the credibility of the Government's policy to involve private sector in the development of infrastructure through public private partnerships," it felt.

Some low-cost operators too were not happy with the decision to move the entire operations to a far-off site as it might discourage people from using the airlines for making shorter distances like Vijayawada.

Now that the issue has been closed, the Governments are considering using it for other purposes, using the robust infrastructure developed at the airport over a period of time. Source: The Hindu

I expected posting members to visit 2 to 4 times a day. Dont forget a lot of people visit once in a week to check on news. e.g; I am planning to move this site from my daily list.
Internet forums used to top-out at 400 members. I guess times have changed. But I am not surprised as this forum comes first on top of google searches for lot of items like "lanco hills".


^^ don't forget a lot of us visit multiple times a day - i've looked at this thread 3 times today and i'm sure that's less than the views by most HYD forumers..

but yeah, impressive numbers for sure..

:)

oops!

Jai - the thread is for Hyderabad....

dammit... had two windows open at the time, posted in the wrong one!


As renumeration, here's Cosmopolitan, Hyderabad, designed by Jurong India (http://www.jurong.com/india.html) for an unknown developer

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1737/cosmokn8.jpg

The Cosmopolitan consists of 6 Blocks of 26 storey high-rise condominiums; the development will feature modern luxury apartments featuring modern luxury apartments featuring intricate designs, modern amenities and an exclusive clubhouse. When completed this residential development would set the standard for luxury condominiums in Hyderabad.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/08/stories/2007080861230300.htm
HUDA staff call off strike
Hyderabad: The Staff and Employees Union of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) called off its strike as the Chief Minister agreed to allot Greenlands Guest House for relocation of HUDA. HUDA Vice-Chairman Jayesh Ranjan said that a Government Order would be issued to this effect.

US Consulate: Meanwhile, Hyderabad Urban Development Authority would be vacating its present premises, Paigah Palace, in about 15 days to facilitate setting up of US Consulate office there.

The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority would also be getting three floors of GHMC building at Maredpally as Green Lands alone would not be adequate for all the wings.
cool. this is not a good time to mess with the HUDA staff (there is so much riding)!

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1737/cosmokn8.jpg

:cheers:

awesome....:)

^^ Between it is interesting to note that their company's India profile doesn't say anything abt the Odyssey science city project!!

:no:

RTC night services by September-end
Some 100 buses to be operated between midnight and 4 a.m.
HYDERABAD: There’s some good news for late night travellers! The RTC will introduce night city bus services by September-end in the twin cities.

These 100-odd night service buses will display a board “N” representing night services and will be operated between midnight and 4 a.m., according to V. Dinesh Reddy, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APSRTC.

Speaking to mediapersons after the Transport Minister K. Laxminarayana flagged off 50 new buses of the city region, Mr. Reddy said the process of recruitment of contract drivers and conductors for the night services was already under way.

CNG buses

Mr. Reddy disclosed that the corporation will start operating five buses run on CNG shortly. The corporation had already been operating 95 CNG-run buses in Vijayawada region.

With the addition of 50 new buses (20 Metro and 30 Ordinary buses) the total fleet of buses in the city region has now reached 2,906 covering a network of 914 routes.

And to meet the growing needs of commuters, it is also proposing to augment the fleet with an additional 504 buses during this financial year.

The city region also proposes to remodel the existing buses to generate revenue through advertisements on the buses. Officials are planning to introduce buses which have wide side-window panes which could display advertisements. Such buses will be introduced in one depot initially.
Regularisation

Earlier, Mr. Laxminarayana said the Government was committed to extending support to APSRTC.

He further said services of 3700 contract employees in the corporation would be regularised within a couple of months.

Executive Director P. Narayana Swamy and City Regional Manager S. Nagaraju were present on the occasion.
Source: The hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/08/stories/2007080858830100.htm)

New low-floor buses to make city travel easy


Hyderabad, Aug. 7: The AP Road Transport Corporation will introduce low-floor buses for the convenience of children, women senior citizens and physically challenged passengers. Corporation officials studied the functioning of low-floor buses in Chennai and Bangalore and are preparing proposals for designing the buses to meet the city’s requirements.

After transport minister Kanna Lakshminarayana flagged off 50 new buses on Tuesday, RTC managing director V. Dinesh Reddy said that the corporation was also contemplating inducting vestibule buses which can accommodate more passengers. Two bus units are connected by a vestibule. Mr Dinesh Reddy said, "We would like to induct AC and tourism buses. These will also help the organisation enhance its revenues," he added.

Hyderabad city region is expected to get 504 new buses this year, 258 for ordinary services, 198 metro expresses, 25 metro-deluxe buses and 23 mini buses. RTC has a fleet of 2,856 buses and transports 36 lakh passengers per day over 7.6 lakh passenger km on 914 routes. Mr Lakshminarayana said they would appoint drivers and other personnel to operate the buses. "Government has no objection if the corporation recruits additional staff ," he said.
Source: Deccan (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#New%20low-floor%20buses%20to%20make%20city%20travel%20easy)

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/09/stories/2007080962182100.htm
BOA clears two SEZs of Infosys
NEW DELHI: The Central Government on Wednesday cleared proposals for setting up four new special economic zones (SEZs), including two of the information technology major Infosys Tech- nologies.

In its meeting held here, the Board of Approval (BOA) of SEZs considered eight proposals, including three for conversion of in-principle approvals to formal approvals. The Board approved four IT and IT-enabled services SEZs — two of Infosys Technologies that would come up in Rangareddy district in Andhra Pradesh, and one each of Genpact India (at Jaipur in Rajasthan) and Enfield Infrastructure Limited (at South 24 Parganas in West Bengal).

The Centre also gave in-principle approvals to a multi-product SEZ of Ispat Industries in Maharashtra and a biotech SEZ to be set up by Veritas Infrastructure Development, also in Maharashtra. In a related development, the Government gave one year extension to the in-principle approval to Reliance Industries-promoted Maha Mumbai SEZ but reduced its size to 5,000 hectares as per the new rules. Earlier, the approval was given for 10,000 hectares...
Deccan Chronicle:
2 Infosys SEZs get approval
Hyderabad, Aug. 8: The Centre on Wednesday approved in principle two special economic zones promoted by IT major Infosys. Infosys has proposed to set up two SEZs, in 119.87 hectares and 60.93 hectares each, in Pocharam on the city outskirts. The government had initially allotted 450 acres of land earmarked for IMG Bharata to Infosys after the deal with the former was scrapped.

Infosys, however, refused to take possession of the land after IMG Bharata approached the court. Then the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation allotted alternative land of around 180 hectares at Pocharam. “The company has to apply for two separate SEZs becuase there is no contiguity in the land given to them,” said a senior official. “The land is in two parcels.” Though the government initially attempted to acquire the land lying in between, it gave up the move after local people protested.

Cameras to be set up at 11 junctions

Hyderabad, Aug. 8: The traffic police has acquired 22 surveillance cameras which will will be installed at 11 junctions in the city. The cameras will be linked to the traffic control room where policemen will monitor traffic on five large LCD screens. The entire project costs about Rs 55 lakhs.

In the first phase, two cameras each will be installed at Khairatabad and Ameerpet junctions within a month. In the second phase, the cameras will be installed at Greenlands, Monappa, Punjagutta, Telugu Talli flyover, Ravindra Bharati, Liberty, Lakdi-ka-Pul, MJ Market and Police Control Room junctions.
Source: Deccan.com (http://www.deccan.com/City/CityNews.asp#Cameras%20to%20be%20set%20up%20at%2011%20junctions)

is it true that hyderabad is getting a norman foster ?

is it true that hyderabad is getting a norman foster ?
yup...
Anil bags 100-storied trade tower in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD :Anil Ambani’s Reliance Energy has bagged the 100-storied trade tower-cum-business district project at Manchirevula on the city outskirts.

Reliance Energy quoted Rs 6.57 crores per acre while its competitor Elbit Medical Imaging, an Israeli firm, quoted Rs 6.10 crores per acre. The upset price was Rs 6 crores per acre and the project is estimated to cost Rs 5,400 crores.
Noted architect Hafeez contractor also favoured the design for the tower submitted by Reliance Energy. In all, the overall marks given to Reliance were 75.40 out of 100 while Elbit got 71.29. Reliance Energy will start construction by September and will engage the services of world renowned architect Norman Foster. Company officials expressed happiness at getting the contract since the opening of financial bids coincided with the death anniversary of founder Dirubhai Ambani. The tower with 100 floors will be about 450 metres tall and will accommodate offices, hotels and malls.
“The company will be given the confirmation letter in a few days,” said Mr B.P. Acharya, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. “The trade tower has to be constructed in three years and the business district in five years.”...

Deccan Chronicle
AP pays Rs 60cr extra
Hyderabad, Aug. 8: Differences between South Central Railway and APSRTC has cost the State government an additional Rs 60 crores for the second phase of the Multi-Mode Transport System project. Railway authorities insisted that the State government should invest 66 per cent of the total cost of Rs 383 crores to make the project feasible since APSRTC was reluctant to provide connectivity to existing MMTS stations. Had the connectivity been in place the State government would have been required to provide 50 per cent of the total cost, as in Phase-I.

The State government was supposed invest Rs 191.5 crores in the second phase if the 50:50 share formula was adopted but it has been forced to provide around Rs 253 crores to take up the entire project. Once completed, MMTS Phase-II will provide connectivity between
Secunderabad and Manoharabad in Medak district (41 km),
Falaknuma and Umdanagar (13 km), and
Secunderabad and Bhongir of Nalgonda districts (45 km).

The Railway officials had hoped that the MMTS project would be viable once bus connectivity was provided from 26 stations. However, APSRTC stopped feeder services saying that there weren’t sufficient passengers to carry. South Central Railway and APSRTC also failed to agree on combined ticket service as the latter insisted that a 50:50 share of revenue was not feasible.
Umdanagar is the nearest railway station to Shamshabad (HIAL) ...

DC
Sanghi Industries has surplus land: Tribunal
Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Land Reforms Tribunal of Ranga Reddy district on Friday said that the Sanghi Group of Industries possessed 2,015 acres of agricultural land in excess of the permitted land holding. Sanghi Industries belongs to the Congress’ Rajya Sabha member Girish Sanghi, who also owns the Telugu daily Vaartha. The tribunal, however, declared that Mr Sanghi's holding was within ceiling limits. The tribunal has already declared that media baron Ch Ramoji Rao was in possession of excess land of 1,360 acres. The Land Reforms Tribunal of Ranga Reddy district is likely to give judgments pertaining to several other cases including the one involving an IT major and a global pharmaceutical company. Sources said the district administration had identified that 12,000 acres of excess agricultural land was in possession of the big shots. Mr T. Manikyala Rao, revenue divisional officer, who also heads the tribunal, passed orders stating that the Sanghi group was entitled to have land holdings of 8.9770 but was in possession of 49.2942 holdings.

As per the declaration of the group it was in possession of 2,603 acres and in the verification, it was found that they had 2,955.94 acres. As per the judgement, the excess holding for Sanghi Textiles was 4.2370, Sanghi Plantation 1.4755, KMS Constructions Pvt Ltd 2.0490, Sanghi Industries Ltd 5.0680, Sanghi Polyesters Ltd 3.5941, Sanghi Zip Fasteners Ltd 0.9624, Sanghi Polyzips Pvt Ltd 0.2554 and Sanghi Spinners India Ltd 22.6758. Official sources told this correspondent that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy directed the officials to take action as per law against all excess land holdings. Reviewing land reforms at a high level meeting here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said the law would treat all land-owners equally and action should be taken against all excess holdings to avoid criticism that the government was discriminatory. Tribunal says:

* Sanghi Group of Industries possesses 2,015 acres of agricultural land in excess of the permitted holding.
* The excess holdings are:
Sanghi Textiles 4.2370
Sanghi Plantation 1.4755
KMS Constructions 2.0490
Sanghi Industries 5.0680
Sanghi Polyesters 3.5941
Sanghi Zip Fasteners 0.9624
Sanghi Polyzips 0.2554
Sanghi Spinners 22.6758
(Each holding is 55 acres according to Land Reforms Tribunal calculations)
Lets hope the GoAP would take hold of these excess landa and put them into a better use...
DC
Construction work for heritage hotel begins
Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Taj Group’s prestigious heritage hotel at the famed Falaknuma Palace premises is underway at a brisk pace. Falaknuma, or Mirror of the Sky, is in possession of Mr Mukrram Jah, grandson of the last Nizam and has been given on a 99-year lease to the Taj Group for converting into a heritage hotel.

The Heritage Committee under the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) has given a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the Taj Group for taking up a heritage hotel with the rider that all steps should be taken to maintain the grandeur of the existing structures and that it should not be demolished.The Taj Group agreed to the conditions and promised to take all steps to restore the palace to its past glory. But monitoring the construction is no easy task.

Huda chairman Sudhir Reddy plans to visit the site, which is not open to the general public. "Though the Heritage Committee has issued NOC we are planning to visit the site to see that no harm is done to the palace. There are fears among heritage lovers over the safety of the palace," Mr Sudhir Reddy said adding that the building plan sanction is handled by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

"We have received revised plans from the group and it is under examination. I do not know the present status of construction," GHMC commissioner C.V.S.K. Sarma told this correspondent. He said the GHMC had earlier sanctioned building plans but the plans were subsequently revised. "We will look into the construction," he added.

Mr Ved Kumar, member of Intach and convenor of the heritage cell of Forum for Better Hyderabad, said that there should be a monitoring mechanism to ensure the safety of the palace, categorised as grade two in the list of heritage monuments. The Palace will be converted into a 80-room heritage hotel. The group also proposes to spend Rs 250 crores on restoring and renovating the palace.

DC
Tishman pays Rs 445 cr for Tellapur township...
Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Tishman Speyers-led consortium on Friday paid Rs 444.26 crores as first installment of land cost for the Tellapur integrated township. The consortium will pay another 25 per cent or about Rs 1,700 crore by December when the Detailed Project Report would be ready and the remaining 50 per cent in the next two years.

The consortium, which also consists of Nagarjuna Construction Company and ICICI, signed a development agreement with Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) and the State Support Agreement with the Infrastructure and Investment department (I&I) here.

There was also a tripartite agreement between I&I, Huda and Ramky Infrastructure for developing the Srinagar Township. This will be the first real estate venture taken up in the true spirit of Public Private Partnership wherein land owners are 40 per cent stake holders in the company that will develop the township. A senior official said that the group had successfully lobbied with the government to convert the project into PPP mode. In the process, Huda will get a premium of Rs 100 crores on the project. As per the MoU, the land will be converted as 40 per cent equity and for the remaining 60 per cent equity, which involves construction cost, the government will adopt Swiss Challenge Method.

"The government is likely to fix the floor price of Rs 340 crores and ask other bidders to quote. The Ramky group will be asked to match the highest bid to get the remaining 60 per cent," the official said. The consortium’s special purpose vehicle, Tellapur Technocity (P) Ltd. has engaged internationally renowned planning and architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP, along with Vastu Shilpa Consultants, to design the township.

The project, which is expected to be completed in eight years, will include more than 30 million square feet of Class A commercial, residential and mixed-use space.
Oh, what a relief! HUDA can get back to work now ...

Nice to see some positive developments with regard to the Tellapur township. Nice. Ofcourse it helps to have a world class developer at work right.... :)

And good for HUda.....should be a bit of relief from the battering it has taken in the last couple of months from GHMC.

http://www.dc-epaper.com/deccanchronicle/Web/Photographs/2007/08/11/103/11_08_2007_103_006_007.jpg Multi Modal Transport System, commonly known as the MMTS, which celebrated its fifth birthday on August 9, was gifted with many compliments from commuters who feel life would have been hell without it. For people who travel long distances daily for work, MMTS trains are the best option as autos work out to be very expensive and buses are inconvenient. The monthly pass on these trains costs just Rs125.

What customers love most about this service is that it has improved considerably over the years and tried to cater to the various demands put forward by them. Talking about the improved services, The DRM of South Central Railways, Secunderabad, Sharad Ingale, says, "When I joined the MMTS was a dying project but we worked on it and made changes as demanded by the commuters. The fre quency of the trains was increased by 150 per cent and due to this many people started using it. The timetable was also modified accordingly and we now target around one lakh commuters per day. Our earnings have also tripled."

Commuters who use MMTS are mostly IT professionals who have to reach Hitec city every morning. Praveen Patro, who works with Satyam and travels from Secunderabad to Hitec by MMTS says, "It takes me just half-an-hour to reach Hitec station from my home. The only problem I feel is that many a times people who do not have tickets or passes come and sit in the first class compart ment. This should be checked by the authorities."

Another commuter Souujanya Kalluri, who is again an IT professional is happy with the MMTS but feels it still needs to improve a bit. She says, "MMTS trains are a good option as we don't have to face traffic every day. But during peak we don't get place to sit sometimes. Connectivity is another factor which must be considered as our offices are far away from the station and we don't get autos at peak hours."

In order to ensure that their complaints are heard, some MMTS commuters have formed a group called the MMTS travellers' group. The head of the group K. Vijayaraghavan, who is also an IT professional working in JDA Software says, "The MMTS is very good, but it needs improvement. So a few of us formed this group and we regularly kept the DRM posted about the areas which need improvement. Due to the combined efforts the services of MMTS increased from 35 to 84. Now we have 125 members and more people are joining us everyday."
interesting ...

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8198/lancohills116gwit3.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lancohills116gwit3.jpg)

Lanco Hills plan,

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/7076/sitelayoutpa6.th.jpg (http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sitelayoutpa6.jpg)

Residential Layout
It is on top right side of Lanco Hills plan(First Photo)

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/8870/dsc00375hf7.th.jpg (http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00375hf7.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5161/dsc00376vt3.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00376vt3.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4944/dsc00371pj6.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00371pj6.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9906/dsc00355fa2.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00355fa2.jpg)
[img=http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/2453/dsc00374qk8.th.jpg] (http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00374qk8.jpg)
[img=http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3630/dsc00373le3.th.jpg] (http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00373le3.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/4944/dsc00371pj6.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00371pj6.jpg)

Some photos of residential appartments at Lanco hills( LH 7,8,etc)

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3589/dsc00359uu1.th.jpg (http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00359uu1.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6355/dsc00361bu1.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00361bu1.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/2319/dsc00368gw9.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00368gw9.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5575/dsc00361ef5.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00361ef5.jpg)

These are from Comercial Zone in Lanco Hills( Malls,IT Parks,etc)


Please bear with me, photos are not clear, these are actually taken from my mobile phone.

yup...

thanks 4 that.If it does come off thats a serious coup for Hydrabad.

Hi, I'm looking for a flat in Hyd and came to know about this (Manjeera Dimaond towers) venture. Please advise if you have dealt with them before and if you would recommend them! Any ideas on the current going price (if it can be negotiated or not!)?
If there is another forum to discuss about such Qs, please let me know.

Thanks

^^ They have a website apparently and i haven't heard abt this project before.

It looks like three ten storied buildings are part of the project.

JP Morgan, a leading financial services firm with global scale, is planning to invest $100 m in Aparna Constructions & Estates, a Hyderabad based property developer through its real estate arm. The investment is being made to develop a specific project which is expected to be routed through a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Aparna Constructions enjoys the status of a prominent builder in Hyderabad real estate sector. The company has a multitude of development projects to be complete in its pipeline. It includes construction of malls, townships, other commercial and residential real estate projects.

The company’s current value of its existing land bank in Hyderabad is estimated at Rs 1,500-2,000 crore. The officials close to the development of the project with JP Morgan are preferring to keep their lips closed regarding the info.

The deal is likely to be one of the biggest fund actions in Hyderabad real estate market. Also, Trinity Capital, the UK-based fund, is to invest a whopping $18 million in Hyderabad based Manjeera Construction Company Limited (MCCL).

JP Morgan wants to make it BIG in Asian real estate. The company invested $22 billion in the South East Asian real estate thereby coming up as the best investor. It is holding high talks with several real estate companies.

The funds are likely to be sourced from JP Morgan Asset Management’s India Property Fund. The arm was formed a year ago from institutional and high net worth investors (HNIs). It envisages an internal rate return of 20%.

Unitech's The Oasis (Phase 1), Hyderbad, desgined by RMJM Architects:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1095/hyd0xx6.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/9546/hyd1sv4.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8475/hyd2ux8.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7924/hyd3tr9.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1142/hyd4eb0.jpg

^^ After watching the youtube video about the Gurgoan project of Unitech, i'm not at all sure how to react to any of these projects taken up by Unitech!

Anyways, thanks for the info. Jai! Appreciate that!

KPHB renamed as Rajiv colony

The massive housing colony constructed by the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board at Kukatpally near here, which is Asia’s largest housing colony, has been renamed as Rajiv Housing Board Colony. Housing Minister B. Satyanarayana announced this here on Tuesday .
Source: Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/15/stories/2007081559830300.htm)

:bash: :rant: :bleep: :moods: :hammer: :mad: :wtf:

http://www.railway-technology.com/news/news1801.html

India Gets High-Speed Rail Underway
09 July 2007 17:23
A high-speed rail project connecting the Indian state capital of Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad with the city of Machilipatnam is underway, the Indian Government announced today.

The project aims to reduce travel times and provide a direct route from Hyderabad International Airport to Machilipatnam port.

Indian officials are currently seeking central funds for the project. Further details are expected when their reports are finalised.

^^ I tried to look up on this story on the net but didn't find any other source citing this!

May be they are just repeating the old news!

Damn....i didn't notice the date ! July 9th.

true. it still gives a good (confident) feeling, as it comes from the IR site,
as against the local (pro-YSR, anti-YSR) news papers...
perhaps we might hear more on this during the Independence day speeches ...

Oh...yeah. That is a possibility man :).

true. it still gives a good (confident) feeling, as it comes from the IR site,
as against the local (pro-YSR, anti-YSR) news papers...
perhaps we might hear more on this during the Independence day speeches ...

Thats not an Indian railway site and the news is fictitious. When did the Indian govt announce that work was underway?

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/17/stories/2007071750600100.htm

Railways seeks private participation to introduce high-speed trains
CHENNAI: The Railways is looking for public-private partnership to in introduce ing high-speed trains in select corridors.

As such high-speed trains can be operated only on dedicated elevated corridors, costing at least Rs. 70 crore a per kmilometre, private participation has become imperative, according to Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese...

The Railway Board Chairman recently held detailed discussions with Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala on this issue. As heavy investments are needed to realise these demands, an in-depth market survey on possible clientele who could afford to pay fares on a par with those of airlines would have to be carried out...

The Railway Board recently decided to have at least one high-speed corridor in each zone...
old news ...

just got back from HYD today... was there for a whole week...
i must say HYD is a really beautiful city.....this being my first trip to HYD was a really memorable one.... i fell this debate BLR Vs HYD should stop....
BLR is miles ahead of HYD in terms of IT,BT,Real Estate,Pubs,Lounge bars.....HYD will defenitely do well in IT (give it some time)...
will upload pix of my trip...:)
cheers

just got back from HYD today... was there for a whole week...
i must say HYD is a really beautiful city.....this being my first trip to HYD was a really memorable one.... i fell this debate BLR Vs HYD should stop....
BLR is miles ahead of HYD in terms of IT,BT,Real Estate,Pubs,Lounge bars.....HYD will defenitely do well in IT (give it some time)...
will upload pix of my trip...:)
cheers

Even here the comparison streak continues.Every city is unique in its own ways.Pubs,Lounge bars in large numbers does not signify progress.U know that Bangalore is the most dipsomaniac city (Drunkards) in the country.Hyderabad is the melting point of both carnatic and Hindustani music.It is the city of pearls,Mushairas,Gazals and Qawalis not just western music as is in Bangalore.^^

just got back from HYD today... was there for a whole week...
i must say HYD is a really beautiful city.....this being my first trip to HYD was a really memorable one.... i fell this debate BLR Vs HYD should stop....
BLR is miles ahead of HYD in terms of IT,BT,Real Estate,Pubs,Lounge bars.....HYD will defenitely do well in IT (give it some time)...
will upload pix of my trip...:)
cheers



you start out saying the city vs. city stuff should end and you revert back to the same in the same post....

as pointed by Ranga, the biggest feature of Hyd is the multi-cultural background of the city. there might be language/regional chauvinists all over the country, but not in Hyd. there might be some but they have no following whatsoever from the majority of the ppl. in present day India, this is pretty rare.

just got back from HYD today... was there for a whole week...
i must say HYD is a really beautiful city.....this being my first trip to HYD was a really memorable one.... i fell this debate BLR Vs HYD should stop....
BLR is miles ahead of HYD in terms of IT,BT,Real Estate,Pubs,Lounge bars.....HYD will defenitely do well in IT (give it some time)...
will upload pix of my trip...:)
cheers

Hypocrite.

I think you have made it quite obvious that you believe BLR>HYD...thanks for trying not to compare the 2 cities. =)

shut up .that was absolutely uncalled for.^^
i just said the hyd will take some time to catch up with blr......
if i hurt anybody's feelings ,i'm sorry.....

Here is what I feel about the two cities. Hyderabad has better roads and infra and they are working harder on their infrastructure, and Bangalore, not working much but has much more development.

^^ I'd say that's a fair statement.

Frankly speaking, Hyderabad will, within 5 years, be much more of an modern urban city, and iirc is the only major metro outside Mumbai with a formalized plan for a skyscraper CBD in place.

Hyd's been #2 to Bangalore for a long time now, but that's soon to change.


I hope B'lore is up to the challenge. In a skyscraper race, no one looses :cheers:

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/16/stories/2007081660010500.htm
Rs. 26,257 cr. for Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: A sum of Rs. 26,257 crore is to be spent for giving a facelift to Hyderabad to make it more developed than other metropolitan cities in the country.

In his Independence Day speech on Wednesday, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy said the State would spend Rs. 4,600 crore on the ORR project and 1,700 crore on Shamshabad airport.

Other massive amounts proposed for Hyderabad were Rs. 8,482 crore for metro rail project and Rs. 2,027 crore for the project taken up to connect 31 “radial roads” with the ORR.

http://www.cyberabadtimes.net/2007/08/more-firm-land-in-trouble.asp
More firms LAND in troubleA few more big companies holding surplus land in and around the city are likely to be issued notices soon, following the Rangareddy District Land Reforms Tribunal's direction last week to the Ramoji and Sanghi groups to surrender excess land in their possession.

Going by the developments of the last week, it appears that the Maoists list has come in handy for the government in identifying the surplus land. Sources in the revenue department said that in all, the tribunal has probed the holdings of over dozen companies and identified 12,000 acres surplus land around the city, where the rates have sky-rocketed during the last couple of years.

What is interesting is that the same issue was raised by CPI (Maoist) representatives when they participated in the failed talks with the State Government three years ago. One of their demands was acquisition and distribution of surplus land owned by big and influential persons/companies.

The Maoists, in a list submitted to the Government, identified 27,000 acre surplus land. The list included companies like Ramoji Group (2000 acre), Sanghis (1500 acre), Satyam (2000 acre), Reddy Labs (1000 acre), Janaharsha (2000 acre), Narne Estates (2000 acre), GPR Estates (1000 acre), Jayabheri Estates (2000 acre), Srimithra Real Estate (1000 acre), Raheja Estate (1000 acre), L&T (1000 acre), IMG Bharata (800 acre - the Congress Government reclaimed the land later), family members of former minister T Devender Goud (1500 acre).

Going by the developments of the last week, it appears that the Maoists list has come in handy for the government in identifying the surplus land. Enquiry has already begun into the land owned by several companies and the remaining will be covered in the next couple of months, a senior official said. As per the revenue records, the State should be having about 1.2 crore acres surplus land, which can be distributed among the landless poor...

just got back from HYD today... was there for a whole week...
i must say HYD is a really beautiful city.....this being my first trip to HYD was a really memorable one.... i fell this debate BLR Vs HYD should stop....
BLR is miles ahead of HYD in terms of IT,BT,Real Estate,Pubs,Lounge bars.....HYD will defenitely do well in IT (give it some time)...
will upload pix of my trip...
cheers


ok....i've got a suggestion ....how about the next time somebody feels like having a city/city comparison...........we ignooooore it..............thank you.........!!!!!!

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/16/stories/2007081660010500.htm

I hope they get started on the radial roads projects. That would make things a lot easier.

[QUOTE=Babji;14755309]

It would be lot better if the projects in construction are designed keeping in mind the international standards of safety and comforts. The local trains at Mumbai and Chennai were designed a long time ago when India was still a third world country. I wish that atleast the new railway projects emulate Delhi Metro's standards of safety and comforts.

Rs. 26,257 cr. for Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: A sum of Rs. 26,257 crore is to be spent for giving a facelift to Hyderabad to make it more developed than other metropolitan cities in the country.

In his Independence Day speech on Wednesday, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy said the State would spend Rs. 4,600 crore on the ORR project and 1,700 crore on Shamshabad airport.

Other massive amounts proposed for Hyderabad were Rs. 8,482 crore for metro rail project and Rs. 2,027 crore for the project taken up to connect 31 “radial roads” with the ORR.

GMR arm to develop airport land
N Mahalakshmi / New Delhi August 16, 2007
Delhi International Airport Ltd move likely to impact revenue flow to government kitty.

In a move that could significantly dampen the revenue flow to the government, GMR Infrastructure group company’s Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has passed on the licence to develop the land it received as part of the privatisation deal to a newly formed subsidiary.

DIAL had received 250 acres of land around the airport area to be developed commercially, with 46 per cent of the revenues accruing from it flowing back to the government (Airport Authority of India), and the rest to be utilised by the company for airport development.

In May this year, DIAL licensed the land to its newly formed 100 per cent subsidiary called Delhi Aerotropolis Private Limited (DAPL) which is responsible for developing the entire infrastructure. Currently, the company is in the process of selling the land rights to potential developers through a competitive bidding process.

“Since the sale consideration would be recognised in a “separate entity” (DAPL), the government would not be entitled to any share in this revenue,” GMR officials said.

To give a ballpark estimate, the income potential (present value of the life-time lease rentals) from one acre of land would be in the range of Rs 100 crore.

This would mean potential revenues in excess of Rs 25,000 crore for the 250 acres of land. Even after deducting certain expenses, the government should ideally be entitled to revenues of over Rs 10,000 crore.

In a recently held conference call, GMR Infrastructure’s top officials said DAPL was negotiating with potential bidders to take 80 per cent of the value (present value of lease rentals for the 60-year period discounted at 10 per cent) as upfront payment in the form of interest-free deposits, refundable after the end of the lease period (60 years), and the remaining as lease rentals to be paid through the tenure of the lease.

The entire refundable deposit will be passed on to DIAL to meet the capital cost for airport development. “Since it comes as deposit, it is not being shared with the Airport Authority of India....because our concession agreement says we need to share only 46 per cent of the “revenue”. DAPL will declare dividends after netting expenses from the rentals received by it, which will be shared with the government,” GMR officials said.

It may be noted that since DAPL would accept upfront deposits (which gets accounted into the balance sheet directly) and not recognise this as income, it would not affect the profitability of the company directly, and hence escape the regular corporate tax levy of 35 per cent.

The company denied any conflict of interest with the government on the grounds that the latter is a beneficiary by virtue of its 26 per cent shareholding in DIAL. “The entire funding plan is according to the master plan, which has been approved by the airport authorities and the ministry of civil aviation in December,” GMR officials said.

Civil aviation ministry officials, on their part, said that even if it forms a subsidiary company, DIAL has to act according to the operation management distribution agreement clauses. “According to the agreement, there has to be a 46 per cent revenue sharing even if a hundred per cent subsidiary is formed. The sharing will be on the basis of gross revenue of all the companies put together,” said a senior ministry official.

The arrangement has received the approval of the board of directors too. Currently, there are two government nominees on the board of DIAL - K N Srivastava and H S Bain.

According to the most recent plan, in the first phase about 45 acres of land adjoining the Delhi airport is to be developed by 2010. The strategy for the remaining land would be devised after 2010 when more land is taken up for development.

In Hyderabad, too, where the company has 1000 acres of land, the company would follow a similar model by incorporating a subsidiary of Hyderabad International Airport called Hyderabad Aerotropolis Private Limited. But the board is yet to clear the proposal. The crucial difference between the Delhi and Hyderabad models, however, is that in the latter case, the company would develop the land on its own rather than selling it to a third party.

India facing hurdles in luring chip investment
16 Aug, 2007, 0215 hrs IST,Shelley Singh, TNN
NEW DELHI: The semiconductor policy that sought to boost chip making in India was announced with much delay and lot of fanfare in March this year. But the euphoria seems to have died down, with hardly any action on the ground. While companies keep announcing new fabs around the world (outside India) they cite government delays in coming out with specific guidelines as reasons for lack of activity in India. With no guidelines on how the subsidy announced in the policy will be given as yet on setting up chip fabs, companies aren’t able to do any financial planning.

The costs of new fabs — around $3 billion to $4 billion — have already gone up by 25% in the last six months and technology is also changing fast. Further delays will cost them dearly. Already, the delay means that a full scale fab in India may not see the light of the day before 2011. However, sources add that the guidelines could be out “soon, perhaps by next week”.

“Financial closure is dependent on the guidelines. Companies have to commit upwards of $2 billion to set up a fab and there’s lot of planning that goes into it, in terms of selecting technology, doing the blueprint, engineering design, construction et al.

Already, investment decisions are being made for 2009-10. Delays in coming out with guidelines will push full scale fab to the 2010-11 horizon,” says Bob Kondamoori, managing director of Sandalwood Partners, an investor in the SemIndia fab project in Hyderabad. However, SemIndia says it’s on track to complete the assembly test mark and pack (ATMP) facility by March 2008. ATMP is a testing and packing facility for semiconductors.

Says India Semiconductor Association (ISA) president Poornima Shenoy: “The guidelines should be out soon. The sector is hotting up. There is a lot of interest from global companies to set up fabs, but they need to know the guidelines before they make a firm commitment.”

The cost of the fabs goes up with every new generation of technology. Till recently, the industry has been working on 90 nano meter (nm) geometry and 300 mm wafer fab, the defining parameters for a fab unit. From early 2007 chip makers have replaced 90 nm with 65 nm geometry.

The shift means an additional investment of at least $1 billion in new equipment. For those planning a fab for 2010-11, the technology will be 40 nm specification, requiring additional investments in new equipment.

The cost of constructing a fab (civil construction) is not cheap either. Building a shell of a fab with 70,000 wafer starts a month capacity, spread over 2,00,000 sq ft alone, costs $750 million to $1 billion. Shift from 65 nm to 40 nm will cost another $1 billion. And simply getting a blueprint done, that is engineering design for a fab plant can cost $35-40 million.

“It will take at least 3-6 months after the guidelines are announced to do the financial closure. The delay is definitely impacting the planning process,” says Mr Kondamoori.

However, Moser Baer executive director Ratul Puri holds a different view. “Guidelines are important but I think it’s a wrong idea to build an India-centric strategy around incentive plans. You don’t select a location for a plant based on subsidies as these are temporary, short-term benefits,” Mr Puri said. He feels factors like skills availability, political stability, infrastructure, market situation are far significant than subsidies. Moser Baer already has a 40 mw solar fab unit which it expects to increase to 600 mw in a few years.

As of now only Moser Baer, which has set up a solar photo voltaic fab and SemIndia, which is doing an ATMP facility are the ones who have a project on the ground. Sources say there could a few others as well. Even Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC), which is planning a $4 billion fab, is yet to decide on a location.

However, it has selected partners for its fab which include Infenion, Siemens and Air Liquide.

Says HSMC chairman and co-founder Deven Verma, “Since the time the policy was announced we have finalised a lot of things. Guidelines will come and this would attract many fabs in India.”

But even as the government has pussyfooted on the policy, companies are looking at alternative destinations to set up fabs. Samsung for instance has plans to set up seven fabs in Korea with an estimated investment of $33 billion.

Toshiba and Texas Instruments are jointly planning investments with an investment of $35 billion in Japan.

Though these companies never really made known their intention of setting up these fabs in India but government guidelines on setting up fabs could help catalyse that growth.

New look for city slums

Corporation approves Rs. 45-crore infrastructure works

Focus on roads, drains, water supply in 400 slums across the city

1,315 works identified by the Corporation

HYDERABAD: City slums are to get a face lift at last. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has cleared a Rs. 45 crore worth works package for improving basic infrastructure like roads, drains, water supply and others in 400 slums.

Commissioner and Special Officer C.V.S.K. Sarma gave the nod for the proposals for the works submitted after the project development officers of the Urban Community Development (UCD) wing surveyed various slums to identify infrastructure deficiencies and pending projects.

The UCD wing had identified 1,315 works in total including key works like construction of 239 roads, 116 underground drains, 43 water supply works, 208 streetlights, 112 community halls, 40 toilets – individual and community, 14 parks and playgrounds, 143 other works like compound walls, urban health posts, etc. in all seven circles of erstwhile MCH.
All-time high

It will be a big high for slum dwellers once the works come through since the civic body had not spent more than Rs. 5 crore a year in the last few years on providing basic amenities to slums. Ironical, considering that the Government has ordered 40 per cent of the total budget be spent on slums.

The erstwhile MCH did allocate substantial funds increasing the funding from Rs. 18 crore to Rs. 45 crore and later close to Rs. 100 crore but works never took off due to lack of any initiative either by politicians or officials.

Even more curiously an elected body was in office and corporators seemed to bother little about them.
Tenders invited

Additional Commissioner (UCD) K. Shiva Parvati said tenders have been called for 537 works in 108 slums located in the Assembly constituencies of Khairatabad, Charminar, Chandrayanagutta, Cantonment and others in the first phase.

About 279 roads are to be taken up at a cost of Rs. 23 crore, 71 underground drainage works – Rs. 16.65 crore, 32 water pipelines – Rs. 3.32 crore, 155 streetlights – Rs. 2.65 crore, etc.

Another batch of works to be taken up in the slums and estimated to cost Rs. 30 crore is being scrutinised.

old news ...

latest update on high speed trains...

http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/holnus/002200708111221.htm

New look for city slums

Corporation approves Rs. 45-crore infrastructure works

Focus on roads, drains, water supply in 400 slums across the city

1,315 works identified by the Corporation

HYDERABAD: City slums are to get a face lift at last. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has cleared a Rs. 45 crore worth works package for improving basic infrastructure like roads, drains, water supply and others in 400 slums.

Commissioner and Special Officer C.V.S.K. Sarma gave the nod for the proposals for the works submitted after the project development officers of the Urban Community Development (UCD) wing surveyed various slums to identify infrastructure deficiencies and pending projects.

The UCD wing had identified 1,315 works in total including key works like construction of 239 roads, 116 underground drains, 43 water supply works, 208 streetlights, 112 community halls, 40 toilets – individual and community, 14 parks and playgrounds, 143 other works like compound walls, urban health posts, etc. in all seven circles of erstwhile MCH.
All-time high

It will be a big high for slum dwellers once the works come through since the civic body had not spent more than Rs. 5 crore a year in the last few years on providing basic amenities to slums. Ironical, considering that the Government has ordered 40 per cent of the total budget be spent on slums.

The erstwhile MCH did allocate substantial funds increasing the funding from Rs. 18 crore to Rs. 45 crore and later close to Rs. 100 crore but works never took off due to lack of any initiative either by politicians or officials.

Even more curiously an elected body was in office and corporators seemed to bother little about them.
Tenders invited

Additional Commissioner (UCD) K. Shiva Parvati said tenders have been called for 537 works in 108 slums located in the Assembly constituencies of Khairatabad, Charminar, Chandrayanagutta, Cantonment and others in the first phase.

About 279 roads are to be taken up at a cost of Rs. 23 crore, 71 underground drainage works – Rs. 16.65 crore, 32 water pipelines – Rs. 3.32 crore, 155 streetlights – Rs. 2.65 crore, etc.

Another batch of works to be taken up in the slums and estimated to cost Rs. 30 crore is being scrutinised.

Independence day come and go year after year.So many plans, schemes and funds are announced but the nothing changes for good but only for the worst.We r getting tired of hearing such announcements.

latest update on high speed trains...

http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/holnus/002200708111221.htm
French team to sign MoU for high-speed rail corridor
New Delhi, Aug. 11 (PTI): An expert team from the French Railway is coming to India for carrying out technical feasibility study of the high-speed rail corridor this month-end.

The team arriving on August 26 would visit some of the proposed sites for the high-speed corridors to prepare a detailed study report suggesting possible measures for going ahead with the project. If everything goes well, the team is likely to sign an MoU with the government to assist the Indian Railway in the project, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

The high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore for each route.

The proposed routes -- Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna -- were announced in the current Rail Budget. The corridor aims at reducing the travel time drastically.

Besides carrying out the feasibility study by the French team, the Railways would also form a high-speed commission to expedite the project on a public-private participation basis...

"Besides France, we are also seeking help from Japan in the bullet train project," said the official adding, the basic research done by Japan and France in high-speed trains are essential ingredients in the project.

The study on bullet train project is required for the involvement of financial institutions and the industry while the government is for viability gap funding. Since the corridor is expected to cost about Rs 50 crore per km, state governments and civic bodies have also been approached for sharing the expenditure...

doesn't say a word about Hyd ...

ok....i've got a suggestion ....how about the next time somebody feels like having a city/city comparison...........we ignooooore it..............thank you.........!!!!!!
I LIKE IT!

latest update on high speed trains...

http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/holnus/002200708111221.htm

Why Hyderabad is left out?

Rs. 26,257 cr. for Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: A sum of Rs. 26,257 crore is to be spent for giving a facelift to Hyderabad to make it more developed than other metropolitan cities in the country.

In his Independence Day speech on Wednesday, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy said the State would spend Rs. 4,600 crore on the ORR project and 1,700 crore on Shamshabad airport.

Other massive amounts proposed for Hyderabad were Rs. 8,482 crore for metro rail project and Rs. 2,027 crore for the project taken up to connect 31 “radial roads” with the ORR.
Let them first repair the existing roads, Streets and bylanes by spending few crores.many roads and streets have become horrible to drive.The plight of the pedestrians on the roads especially while crossing the busy roads is nightmarish.People r getting disgusted hearing such mere announcements from time to time with out anything concrete happening on the ground.:ohno:

Let them first repair the existing roads, Streets and bylanes by spending few crores.many roads and streets have become horrible to drive.The plight of the pedestrians on the roads especially while crossing the busy roads is nightmarish.People r getting disgusted hearing such mere announcements from time to time with out anything concrete happening on the ground.:ohno:



sir, sorry to say this. but why do you always have to be the one saying, "let them learn to wash their a$$es first and then they can think of a shower."
you can cheer up a little!

DC Aug 16, 2007.

http://i14.tinypic.com/54bysnr.jpg
Vehicles ply on the Jamai Osmania flyover between Tarnaka and Vidyanagar in Hyderabad on Thursday. Though the flyover is yet to be opened formally, motorists have started using it.

New airport on March 2
Hyderabad, Aug. 16: The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad will start functioning from March 2 next year. At the stroke of the midnight hour, the Begumpet airport will fall silent. Operations will formally shift to the new airport from 12.01 am. Sources said the Hyderabad International Airport Limited conveyed its readiness to start operations at Shamshabad from March 2 to the Airport Authority of India and the government.

“The first flight will land on the newly built 4.62 km long runway in November for a trial run,” a senior official said. The Director General of Civil Aviation will issue a notification on the date of commencement of operations. “Pilots will then be informed of the new flight path,” said the official. Transfer of operations will be done with so much precision that flights will be controlled by the Begumpet Air Traffic Control before 12 am and by the new ATC at Shamshabad after that. HIAL has engaged Munich Airport International, a specialist in transfer of operations, for this. It had shifted airports at Munich, Athens and Bangkok.

DC Aug 16, 2007.

http://i14.tinypic.com/54bysnr.jpg

I was one of those to have used it for couple of days. But yesterday they blocked the flyover. I suppose no Neta was available on 15th to inaugarate it formally.

GHMC revokes suspension of engineers
17 Aug 2007, 0337 hrs IST,TNN
HYDERABAD: While a high-level inquiry is being appointed to probe and fix responsibility for cracks on the parallel Muslim Jung bridge in the Old City, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has revoked suspension of five engineers on Thursday.

Where Concept of a ‘Pet Rock’ Has Reached Its Apex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: August 17, 2007
HYDERABAD, India — They rise unexpectedly between glass office towers or at the base of a 12th-century fort. Sometimes they are perched precariously, one on top of another, as though they were the left-behind playthings of a civilization of giants. More and more, they are broken into bits, first by dynamite, then painstakingly by hand, so that the earth can be flattened and new office towers can come up.

They are the primordial rocks that litter this boomtown. Over the years they have earned nicknames that hint at their improbable shapes: Bear’s Nose, Stone Heart. Some have become Hindu temples and Sufi Muslim shrines; others, on occasion, have become billboards.

Today, as Hyderabad builds at breakneck speed, the rocks have become the focus of one of India’s many emerging citizens movements. The Society to Save Rocks, as it is called, aims to protect the geological heritage of the city against the swift march of urban development.

The rocks, formed at least two billion years ago, remain a peculiar feature of the vast tableland, the Deccan Plateau, where Hyderabad sits.

Boomtowns across India have spawned movements of similar vigilance, part of a tiny but visible trend among middle-class Indians to save something of the natural or cultural heritage of their cities against the onslaught of the new.

In Chennai, on the southern coast, neighborhood groups have mounted campaigns to restore Hindu temples’ traditional water tanks, which have either been built over or fallen into disrepair, depriving the city of its water storage areas and worsening floods during the monsoon.

In Mumbai, formerly Bombay, preservationists have campaigned to save colonial-era buildings, and in New Delhi, a government plan to widen a road for big new buses has encountered a movement to save the imperiled trees in its path.

Of course, these first hints of resistance conflict with urban India’s other needs and desires.

To developers in Hyderabad, for instance, the rocks, mostly granite and granite gneiss, are encumbrances that must be cleared for construction projects.

Hyderabad’s population has nearly doubled in 25 years, to an estimated 4.2 million. Once a quaint city of monuments, it is now one of India’s new technology hubs. Developers are rushing to erect office towers and multiplex cinemas. The building frenzy is visible in every corner.

In one of those corners, an ambitious 110-acre development called Lanco Hills is under way, an office park for technology companies, high-rise apartments, two hotels and one of the largest shopping malls in the country. There are no boulders anywhere in its promotional materials, as though the landscape had been scrubbed clean.

In fact, that is exactly what is happening, and at a hefty cost to the developer. On a company tour of the site one afternoon, a drilling machine ground its way through the large boulders, cutting holes for dynamite. Once the bigger boulders were dislodged, the process would start again on smaller boulders, until the rocks were small enough to go into a crushing machine and turned into a fine powder used to fortify concrete.

On a summer Sunday afternoon, Vasu Nugala and C. J. Rao stood on a bluff overlooking the construction site, watching machines gouge out the underside of the hill, as though carving a side of roast beef. The bluff itself, home to a 14th-century Muslim shrine, was not endangered, and on this day families came to picnic and worship, huddling under outcroppings of the giant boulders when the dark rain clouds burst.

Neither Mr. Nugala nor Mr. Rao were averse to the changes sweeping through Hyderabad. In fact, they were part of it — Mr. Nugala being a software man, recently returned from Tucson, Ariz., Mr. Rao being in real estate.

“I know we’re not going to stop the development,” Mr. Nugala said. “I just hope we ease up a little.”

Mr. Rao added, “These rocks can’t go up again once they are gone.”

Their campaign has succeeded in creating a rock park in the heart of the city, overlooking a lake. It has also led to the designation of nine rock formations as heritage sites, including the Bear’s Nose, which is to sit smack inside a proposed hotel in what is known as the Cyber City neighborhood. Some of the technology campuses have artfully incorporated the boulders into their design, transforming them into rock gardens.

But enforcing the heritage designation requires constant vigilance by citizens groups, said Narendra Luther, a longtime member of the Society to Save Rocks. He should know; he spent his entire career in the Indian government bureaucracy. “We are very poor in implementing our laws,” he said.

Mr. Luther lives with the rocks. One dominates his living room, forming a wall that divides the sitting area from the dining room. The same boulder shoots up through the ceiling into the apartment upstairs, where Mr. Luther’s son lives with his own family. His 5-year-old grandson, Rishab, scrambles up and down its steep smooth side.

“I came in 1958. I was fascinated by it,” Mr. Luther said of his obsession with the city’s ancient boulders. “First, the sheer presence of the rocks and the fantastic shapes, sometimes defying gravity, one right over the other. It looks like somebody has placed it there and you can give it a slap and it will fall.”

Developers have approached with sweet offers for his house, which occupies a big plot of land in one of the best neighborhoods in town. He has brushed them off.

State second in corporate investment
Thursday, 16 August 2007

Hyderabad, August 16: With a total investment of Rs 25,173 crore during 2006-07, Andhra Pradesh stood second in the country in corporate investments.

In the process, the State surpassed Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy asked the officials to strive for attracting more investments.

Gujarat continued to top the list. During last financial, the State attracted 105 new projects as against 157 by Gujarat and 142 by Maharashtra.

Hyderabad has been projected as the most business-friendly Indian city in a recent study conducted by the World Bank, an official release said.

[QUOTE=Babji;14755309]

It would be lot better if the projects in construction are designed keeping in mind the international standards of safety and comforts. The local trains at Mumbai and Chennai were designed a long time ago when India was still a third world country. I wish that atleast the new railway projects emulate Delhi Metro's standards of safety and comforts.

The suburban trains in Mumbai and chennai were designed much before India became independent.It was not a third world country but part of the British Empire.:)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/08/18/stories/2007081850131200.htm

Hyderabad, Aug. 17 The first unit in the Hyderabad Gems Special Economic Zone (SEZ) would be ready for operations by next month.

“We are happy with the progress. While the first unit will be ready by next month, another four would be operational by December, ,” Mr Suresh Chukkapalli, Managing Director, Hyderabad Gems SEZ, told Business Line.

The SEZ, being developed by Gitanjali Group in about 200 acres land near Shamshabad with over Rs 500 crore investments (Rs 100 crore by the Group itself), has already started cutting of diamonds. “Currently, we are cutting 1,500 pieces a day and large-scale exports will happen immediately after the first unit goes into operation,” Mr Suresh said. The raw diamonds are chiefly being imported from South Africa.

“About 40 companies have already expressed interest to come to the SEZ while many others are waiting for the International Airport coming up at Shamshabad to be operational,” he said.
Change focus?

Till now, the gem industry was mainly focused in Surat and Mumbai, he said adding: “The SEZ is expected to bring the focus to Hyderabad as well.” Efforts are also on to ensure the availability of a steady pool of talent for the SEZ. “We have trained over 1,800 people during the last six months. About 1,100 of them are now permanent employees. Nearly 5,000 people will be employed before March 2008.”

Importance was being given to provide employment to the differently-abled persons and those from the socially and economically weaker sections, he added.

The Gems Park was the third sector-specific SEZ for gems after Surat and Kolkata and would be involved in the designing, cutting and polishing of jewellery. “We will take up other activities such as costume jewellery, he said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/08/18/stories/2007081850131200.htm

Hyderabad, Aug. 17 The first unit in the Hyderabad Gems Special Economic Zone (SEZ) would be ready for operations by next month.

“We are happy with the progress. While the first unit will be ready by next month, another four would be operational by December, ,” Mr Suresh Chukkapalli, Managing Director, Hyderabad Gems SEZ, told Business Line...
cool!

Source TOI epaper

Govt Agrees To Pay Rs 190 Crore As Compensation To Rlys

Hyderabad: The development of an inner ring road to facilitate quick travel from several areas in the city to the upcoming international airport at Shamshabad has been taken up jointly by the department of roads and buildings, Huda and GHMC.
The project is expected to be completed by March 2008.
Once it is completed, the travel time from Secunderabad to the international airport is expected to come down to 45 minutes from the approximate one and half hours now.
As part of the project, the road from Mehdipatnam including Masab Tank, Banjara Hills, Nagarjuna Circle, Begumpet, SP Road, Rail Nilayam, Mettuguda, Tarnaka, Uppal, Nagole, L B Nagar, Santoshnagar crossroads, Chandrayangutta, Kurnool highway, Rajendranagar bypass road, Rethi Bowli will be widened to 150 ft. The inner road will join the upcoming P V Narsimha Rao Elevated Expressway at Aramgarh.
The development also includes construction of bus and auto bays, footpaths and dividers wherever necessary.
While the GHMC is developing the roads in the city limits like Masab Tank to Secunderabad, Secunderabad to Habsiguda, Santoshnagar crossroads to Chandrayangutta, the R&B department is developing the road from Uppal to L B Nagar, the Huda has taken up P V Narsimha Rao Elevated Expressway from Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital at Masab Tank to Aramgarh.
“Sixty per cent of the total 54 km length road has been developed. The remaining portion will be completed by March, 2008,’’ special secretary (R&B) K V Brahmananda Reddy told TOI on Friday.
In some stretches like Sangeet talkies junction to Mettuguda crossroads, the GHMC could not widen the roads due to delay in acquisition of land belonging to the railways. Similarly, at Santoshnagar crossroads, there is a delay as several defence institutions have yet to part with their land for the road widening.
The South Central Railway is reported to have sought Railway Board’s clearance for handing over land to the civic body for widening of the road after the state government expressed its readiness to pay compensation to SCR.
The railways will stand to lose about 51,000 square metres for which it has asked for a compensation of Rs 147 crore towards land, and Rs 43 crore towards ‘structural’ changes.
Similarly, the defence establishments like DRDL, DMRL will lose about 40,000 square metres from Santoshnagar crossroads up to Chandrayangutta crossroads. The state government sought permission from the Defence Estate wing, New Delhi, for road widening.
“The defence officials say it will take a minimum of six months to complete the procedures,’’ Brahmananda Reddy said.
The R&B has called for tenders for development of roads from Uppal to L B Nagar that includes widening, construction of bus and auto bays from Uppal to L B Nagar.
The P V Narsimha Rao Elevated Expressway, which is important for easy access to the international airport from upmarket areas like Banajara Hills or Greenlands, will be ready up to Hyderguda by March, 2008.
The remaining portion of the 11.5 km expressway from Hyderguda to Aramgarh will be ready by October next year.

Source TOI epaper

Govt Agrees To Pay Rs 190 Crore As Compensation To Rlys

... the road from Mehdipatnam including Masab Tank, Banjara Hills, Nagarjuna Circle, Begumpet, SP Road, Rail Nilayam, Mettuguda, Tarnaka, Uppal, Nagole, L B Nagar, Santoshnagar crossroads, Chandrayangutta, Kurnool highway, Rajendranagar bypass road, Rethi Bowli will be widened to 150 ft.

... “Sixty per cent of the total 54 km length road has been developed. The remaining portion will be completed by March, 2008,’’ special secretary (R&B) K V Brahmananda Reddy told TOI on Friday.

... The R&B has called for tenders for development of roads from Uppal to L B Nagar that includes widening, construction of bus and auto bays from Uppal to L B Nagar...
cool.

Hey ther,

I found this video about the Alien Space Station project coming up at Tellapur (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7836377971347717163&q=hyderabad&total=333&start=20&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=3).

Not sure if this is a genuine project.

Hey ther,

I found this video about the Alien Space Station project coming up at Tellapur (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7836377971347717163&q=hyderabad&total=333&start=20&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=3).

Not sure if this is a genuine project.

Great find Harsh. ASS looks awesome - looks like its recently uploaded and has contact info also.
"Shiva Verma
2 days ago
Please do contact us for more details at 9966234129"

Great find Harsh!
The project looks cool.

But the name is kind of strange and the acronym that vamsireddy came up with is :lol:

Thanks guys!

Yeah...... :D

@ Vamsi: Try this man...http://www.aliensgroup.in/htmls/aboutus.htm

And also,

I found this one too....cool! (http://www.aliensgroup.in/Presentation/Technocity-HUDA.wmv) (From HUDA!?)

:cheers:

Hey ther,

I found this video about the Alien Space Station project coming up at Tellapur (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7836377971347717163&q=hyderabad&total=333&start=20&num=10&so=1&type=search&plindex=3).

Not sure if this is a genuine project.
wow! the competition is picking up.
Alien Space Station has to work hard to meet the competetion/ high standards set by Lanco Hills.
Expect more from Alien Space Station 2 ...

IHT: Where concept of a 'pet rock' has reached its apex (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/world/asia/17india.html)
New York Times: HYDERABAD JOURNAL

By Somini Sengupta
Published: August 17, 2007

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7458/17india550xq5.jpg
The great granite boulders scattered across the Deccan Plateau gain their prominence from outcroppings in Hyderabad, where residents are trying to save them from developers’ dynamite.

HYDERABAD, India: They rise unexpectedly between glass office towers or at the base of a 12th-century fort. Sometimes they are perched precariously, one on top of another, as though they were the left-behind playthings of a civilization of giants. More and more, they are broken into bits, first by dynamite, then painstakingly by hand, so that the earth can be flattened and new office towers can come up.

They are the primordial rocks that litter this boomtown. Over the years they have earned nicknames that hint at their improbable shapes: Bear's Nose, Stone Heart. Some have become Hindu temples and Sufi Muslim shrines; others, on occasion, have become billboards.

Today, as Hyderabad builds at breakneck speed, the rocks have become the focus of one of India's many emerging citizens movements. The Society to Save Rocks, as it is called, aims to protect the geological heritage of the city against the swift march of urban development.

The rocks, formed at least two billion years ago, remain a peculiar feature of the vast tableland, the Deccan Plateau, where Hyderabad sits.

Boomtowns across India have spawned movements of similar vigilance, part of a tiny but visible trend among middle-class Indians to save something of the natural or cultural heritage of their cities against the onslaught of the new.

In Chennai, on the southern coast, neighborhood groups have mounted campaigns to restore Hindu temples' traditional water tanks, which have either been built over or fallen into disrepair, depriving the city of its water storage areas and worsening floods during the monsoon.

In Mumbai, formerly Bombay, preservationists have campaigned to save colonial-era buildings, and in New Delhi, a government plan to widen a road for big new buses has encountered a movement to save the imperiled trees in its path.

Of course, these first hints of resistance conflict with urban India's other needs and desires.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9655/20070817indiamapvu4.jpg

To developers in Hyderabad, for instance, the rocks, mostly granite and granite gneiss, are encumbrances that must be cleared for construction projects.

Hyderabad's population has nearly doubled in 25 years, to an estimated 4.2 million. Once a quaint city of monuments, it is now one of India's new technology hubs. Developers are rushing to erect office towers and multiplex cinemas. The building frenzy is visible in every corner.

In one of those corners, an ambitious 110-acre development called Lanco Hills is under way, an office park for technology companies, high-rise apartments, two hotels and one of the largest shopping malls in the country. There are no boulders anywhere in its promotional materials, as though the landscape had been scrubbed clean.

In fact, that is exactly what is happening, and at a hefty cost to the developer. On a company tour of the site one afternoon, a drilling machine ground its way through the large boulders, cutting holes for dynamite. Once the bigger boulders were dislodged, the process would start again on smaller boulders, until the rocks were small enough to go into a crushing machine and turned into a fine powder used to fortify concrete.

On a summer Sunday afternoon, Vasu Nugala and C. J. Rao stood on a bluff overlooking the construction site, watching machines gouge out the underside of the hill, as though carving a side of roast beef. The bluff itself, home to a 14th-century Muslim shrine, was not endangered, and on this day families came to picnic and worship, huddling under outcroppings of the giant boulders when the dark rain clouds burst.

Neither Nugala nor Rao were averse to the changes sweeping through Hyderabad. In fact, they were part of it — Nugala being a software man, recently returned from Tucson, Arizona, Rao being in real estate.

"I know we're not going to stop the development," Nugala said. "I just hope we ease up a little."

Rao added, "These rocks can't go up again once they are gone."

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5515/17india2650kx5.jpg
At construction sites in booming Hyderabad, the rugged rocks are being turned into gravel to make way for high-tech offices.

Their campaign has succeeded in creating a rock park in the heart of the city, overlooking a lake. It has also led to the designation of nine rock formations as heritage sites, including the Bear's Nose, which is to sit smack inside a proposed hotel in what is known as the Cyber City neighborhood. Some of the technology campuses have artfully incorporated the boulders into their design, transforming them into rock gardens.

But enforcing the heritage designation requires constant vigilance by citizens groups, said Narendra Luther, a longtime member of the Society to Save Rocks. He should know; he spent his entire career in the Indian government bureaucracy. "We are very poor in implementing our laws," he said.

Luther lives with the rocks. One dominates his living room, forming a wall that divides the sitting area from the dining room. The same boulder shoots up through the ceiling into the apartment upstairs, where Luther's son lives with his own family. His 5-year-old grandson, Rishab, scrambles up and down its steep smooth side.

"I came in 1958. I was fascinated by it," Luther said of his obsession with the city's ancient boulders. "First, the sheer presence of the rocks and the fantastic shapes, sometimes defying gravity, one right over the other. It looks like somebody has placed it there and you can give it a slap and it will fall."

Developers have approached with sweet offers for his house, which occupies a big plot of land in one of the best neighborhoods in town. He has brushed them off.

Huda yet to locate land

Hyderabad, Aug. 19: The State government has failed to develop truck terminals on the outskirts even though heavy vehicular movement and haphazard parking of lorries on city roads is causing traffic snarls in the city. Hyderabad Urban Development Authority which took up the project has been unable to finalise suitable locations for the satellite truck terminals due to skyrocketing land prices.

As many as 20,000 lorries and other heavy vehicles ply every day in Hyderabad and surrounding areas without adequate terminals. The Auto Nagar terminal is capable of handling only around 2,000 lorries. Transport associations have submitted representations for the construction of terminals at Shamshabad, Ped-Amberpet, BHEL and Bowenpally areas.

Transporters want each terminal to be set up on at least 200 acres but Huda officials said that it was impossible to acquire such huge plots since each acre costs around Rs 10 crore.

Source: The Hindu
(http://deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#Huda%20yet%20to%20locate%20land)

65 more pre-paid parking lots in city

HYDERABAD: In an effort to prevent unauthorised parking on roads, especially on main thoroughfares, and to create more parking lots, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has proposed 65 pre-paid parking lots in the city and surrounding municipal circles.

As of now, there are 113 parking lots on the busy city roads. But there are no pre-paid parking lots in the surrounding municipal circles. After the merger of the surrounding municipalities with the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, estate officials of GHMC have started identifying parking lots in surrounding circles also.

"In the first phase, a list of 65 parking lots in areas like Kukatpally, Dilsukhnagar and some uncovered areas like Sultan Bazaar and R P Road has been prepared and sent to the respective traffic police authorities to get clearance," GHMC estate officer D Jagadishar told TOI.

Proposals have been sent for 27 pre-paid parking lots on the Kukatpally-Miyapur stretch, 18 on Dilsukhnagar main road, 15 on the Bible House-City Light Hotel stretch in R P Road and five parking spaces in Sultan Bazaar area.

Of 113 existing parking lots, most of them are ‘smart parkings’ being operated by electronic machines. In this electronic system, smart cardholders need not pay cash to anyone, but the amount will be deducted from the recharge card. The GHMC is earning about Rs 3 crore through smart cards alone.

The corporation wants to make fresh efforts to convince other departments like RTC, railways and airport to accept GHMC smart cards at their parking lots. As of now, the corporation has a tie-up with RTC only, that too at the Imbliban bus station.

Meanwhile, the commissioner has asked all deputy municipal commissioners of surrounding circles to ensure that owners of all commercial complexes provide enough space for parking. He also asked them to clear the encroachments in cellars.

Source: TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Hyderabad/65_more_pre-paid_parking_lots_in_city/articleshow/2293073.cms)

Huda finally gets a new abode
22 Aug 2007, 0141 hrs IST,TNN
HYDERABAD: A building belonging to the APGenco in Vengalraonagar will soon house the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) office. The building is being taken on lease.

As the time was running out for Huda to move out of its present office - the Paigah Palace in Begumpet - which will soon house the US Consulate, the civic body officials finally decided to take the APGenco building on lease. “Shifting will begin on Wednesday,” Huda secretary D Rama Rao told TOI on Tuesday. Huda expects to shift to its two-storeyed new abode by the end of August.

Though eight rooms of the Guest House in Greenlands have already been allotted to Huda, the officials are still skeptical about whether the head offices of all its sections could be put up there. “At the moment, we are thinking of accommodating the engineering section at the guest house,” Rama Rao said. The APGenco building at Vengalraonagar is “spacious enough” to accommodate almost all the sections, including its head offices, of the urban body.

When it became almost impossible to find an alternative suitable place to house Huda, its officials zeroed in on the North Zone office of GHMC on Sardar Patel Road in Secunderabad. However, since the floors in which Huda planned to set up its office aren’t furnished yet, the officials had to scout for a new place. Officials said it will take at least six to eight months for the GHMC building to be ready for occupation.

However, the Vengalraonagar location will only be a temporary address of Huda as the authorities have already decided to construct a permanent building to house its office.

Hyderabad's new generation airport to be ready by year-end
22 Aug, 2007, 1010 hrs IST, IANS
HYDERABAD: Hyderabad's new international airport, which incorporates the best of facilities in Oslo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore airports and promises to take Indian airports to a new era, will be ready by year-end and become operational in March 2008.

The Rs 24.78 billion ($601 million) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which hopes to spur growth of this booming tech hub, is coming up in Shamshabad, about 25 km from the city on the Hyderabad-Bangalore national highway.

Flight trials are likely to begin in January and the first commercial flight is scheduled to take off in March, a month before the opening of the new international airport in Bangalore, its competitor.
"About 78 percent of the work has already been completed. All the civil work will be completed by year-end," said T. Srinagesh, chief operating officer of promoters, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL).

Hundreds of workers are working round the clock to give final shape to the futuristic airport, which is expected to make Hyderabad a transit hub between Europe and Southeast Asia.
GHIAL is a joint venture of GMR Group (63 per cent), Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (11 per cent), Airports Authority of India (AAI - 13 per cent) and the Andhra Pradesh government (13 per cent).

The initial phase of the airport will be capable of handling 12 million passengers per annum (mppa) as against 5.95 mppa handled by existing airport and more than 100,000 tonnes of cargo per annum against 45,000 tonnes handled by existing facility. The ultimate capacity of the new airport is over 40 mppa and one million tonnes of cargo per annum.

The success of this project will be crucial for many other airports planned in public-private partnership.

The 4,260-metre-long runway, India's longest for civil aviation, which is A380 aircraft compatible, is already complete, as is the equally long parallel taxiway that can also be used for emergency take-offs.

Work on a seven-storeyed passenger terminal building being built by the China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) and spread over 100,000 square metres is nearing completion.

The 42 parking bays, cargo building, apron and fuel farm are also on schedule.
The 70-metre-tall Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower has been completed and Airports Authority of India has started installing their equipment in it.

"By November or December, the ATC tower will be handed over to AAI," Srinagesh said.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has already started inspecting the facilities to ensure that they are compatible with its international standards.
"Once ICAO endorses the facilities, it becomes easy for us to get certification from the Director General of Civil Aviation," the official said.

An agreement has already been entered into with Munich Airport to shift the entire operations from the existing airport in Begumpet in the heart of the city to the new airport.
"They are experts in transferring operations from one airport to the other. They have done this in Kuala Lumpur, Madrid and Athens," Srinagesh said.

The Shamshabad airport promises a new refreshing experience for air travellers, who often complain about poor facilities at Indian airports. "You will see a change in ambience." he said.
The airport will have 60 check-in-counters with Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and 16 self check-in kiosks. The 2,500-sq m complex will also have 12 contact boarding bridges, 45 immigration counters and extensive retail and shopping outlets.

The other special features include fuel supply system on open access basis, an airport village and a business hotel of 308 rooms near the passenger terminal building.
GHIAL can use 1,000 acres out total 5,400 acres, for commercial developments. Future plans include a luxury hotel and convention centre, a railway station and shopping malls.

thats one good news.

Four flyovers to be ready next month

HYDERABAD: While Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy throws open the Jamia Osmania road overbridge in a couple of days’ time, a project that took a decade in making, GHMC is also planning to get ready other flyovers by next month.

Trumpet-shaped Nalgonda flyover is to be completed by September 10 with officials indicating that only balance works like building crash barriers and surface black topping have to be completed.

At about the same time, the second part of Punjagutta flyover beginning from ICICI Bank to Topaz Building on crossing the junction will be completed.

This second part with two-and-a-half lanes allows for one-way traffic for vehicles from Jubilee Hills and moving towards Somajiguda.

The main flyover beginning near the Chief Minister’s residence, jumps over Rajiv Gandhi, Punjagutta and NFCL junctions with one arm dropping beside Vengal Rao Park and another crossing Chutney’s restaurant.

There is some good news on the Chandrayanagutta flyover front as all works are to be finished by September 15.

The GHMC, tired of delays, decided to take away pavement work from the main contractor.

First part of Greenlands flyover starting before the Chief Minister’s house and joining the existing Begumpet flyover will be ready by the same time with all objections raised by the Railways cleared.

But work on the second part crossing the railway track and dropping near the Hyderabad Public School gate will go on till December.

‘Metro Bhavan’

Dr. Reddy will also inaugurate the four-storied ‘Metro Bhavan’ to house the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, which will facilitate the construction and running of the elevated metro project.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/23/stories/2007082359110100.htm)

SP Road to be widened
23 Aug 2007, 0117 hrs IST,TNN
SECUNDERABAD: To ease traffic congestion on the arterial Sardar Patel Road, civic officials will take up road-widening works on the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport-DCP North Zone office stretch in the next few days. As a result, several public and private properties, including Parade Grounds, Gymkhana grounds, Begumpet police station and Police Hockey stadium, are likely to lose land to the widening exercise.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) will jointly take up the road-widening exercise in the next few days. The stretch would be widened from the current 100 feet to 150 feet. At a special meeting held at SCB office on Tuesday, a decision to this effect was taken and officials from the two entities identified 32 properties likely to be affected. "First we will approach these owners and appeal to them to part with their land. In case they refuse, notices will be sent under the relevant laws," a GHMC Secunderabad zone official told TOI .

The road-widening exercise is likely to affect Hotel Tulip Manohar, Venus Plaza, Indian Air Lines-Hostel, assistant commissioner of police, Ananda theatre, Paigah Hotel, PG College, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board's pump house and chief engineer-MES office. A petrol outlet, a few shops, hotels and an apartment complex would also be affected.
Incidentally, Sardar Patel Road has witnessed road-widening exercise twice in the last decade.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/23/stories/2007082360150300.htm
GHMC seeks control of R&B roads
HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has urged the Government seeking transfer of powers to maintain roads belonging to the Roads & Buildings Department which criss-cross to an extent of 180 kilometres through its area.

Commissioner and Special Officer C.V.S.K. Sarma has written to the higher authorities few days ago seeking permission for the same and also sought Rs. 50 crore annual budget for maintenance works.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation alone has more than 2,000 km stretch of roads to take care of. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation being told to take up repairs of roads belonging to Road and Buildings is not new as also the demand for taking over the latter’s roads. In fact, the Chief Minister himself had mooted the suggestion during one of those coordination meetings held recently.

Re-carpeting : Apparently nothing has come out of it because the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had sought appropriate funding for the work and the R&B was reluctant to part with any from its budget. Even as the logjam continues, the corporation claims to taking up re-carpeting of small stretches and also pot-holes filling whenever necessary. “We can’t keep tossing responsibility to Road and Buildings Department whenever a road stretch is badly in need of repair because a citizen is concerned about a good road only. And since the corporation gets the blame for all bad roads, we decided not to ignore repair work of Roads and Buildings too,” said a senior official.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is said to be spending more than a crore of rupees for such repair each year works especially during the visits of national and international dignitaries or important events. With another event – World Military Games – round the corner, the Government has now entrusted fresh carpeting of roads from AOC Centre to Gachibowli Sports Stadium where the main events are to be held in October second week.

Road repairs: Road repairs will be taken up covering the areas of Marredpally, St. John’s Church, Sardar Patel Road, Begumpet, Punjagutta, Banjara Hills Road No.1, Masab Tank, Mehdipatnam and Langar Houz. The total stretch could be more than 30 km and the cost is estimated to be about Rs. 9 crore. GHMC has initiated tendering process for the same and some of the roads belong to Roads & Buildings too!

GHMC spends Rs 70 cr on walls to stop invasion

Hyderabad, Aug. 22: Wary of land sharks and its own staff to a large extent, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation will spend over Rs 70 crores to construct compound walls to protect its open spaces. After a four-month exercise, officials have identified nearly 1,000 open spaces worth over Rs 3,000 crores belonging to the GHMC in surrounding municipalities. Some of these are as big as 5 acres and are meant to be developed as parks, playgrounds and community halls.

The corporation wants to make sure that these open spaces are not encroached upon. In the past, open spaces owned by the erstwhile MCH were encroached upon. The civic body was not in a position to retrieve them because files pertaining to lease agreements were lost. Junior officials had allegedly sold the files to land sharks.

Though an enquiry was ordered into the issue after a report was published in these columns, nothing much has been done so far. When contacted, GHMC chief engineer Dhan Singh said that if required services of watchmen and security guards would be hired to safeguard these lands. In Qutbullapur municipality limits alone, over 270 open spaces have been identified. Likewise, 138 open spaces in LB Nagar, 144 in Alwal and 100 in Malkajgiri will get compound walls and fencing.

Source: Deccan (http://deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#GHMC%20spends%20Rs%2070%20cr%20on%20walls%20to%20stop%20invasion)

HSMC fab unit in Hyd.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Indl_Goods__Svs/Hindustan_Semiconductor_plans_2_bn_fab_in_Andhra_Pradesh/articleshow/
2302275.cms

CM to open Osmania ROB on August 28


Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, Aug. 23: Nearly 10 years after its construction started, the road over bridge at Jamai Osmania will be formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Saturday. Throwing open this ROB to vehicular traffic will give relief to students and teachers of Osmania University from the noise and air pollution caused by automobiles plying on the road that cuts through the university campus.

The Jamai Osmania ROB will provide an alternative route for vehiclists going towards Vidyanagar and Adikmet from Tarnaka and vice-versa. The ROB is also expected to ease traffic congestion on the Mettuguda-Tarnaka main road. The Chief Minister will also lay the foundation stone for development of the Begumpet-Fatehnagar link road. The foundation-laying ceremony will be held on Saturday.

CM to open Osmania ROB on August 28
Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, Aug. 23: Nearly 10 years after its construction started, the road over bridge at Jamai Osmania will be formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Saturday. Throwing open this ROB to vehicular traffic will give relief to students and teachers of Osmania University from the noise and air pollution caused by automobiles plying on the road that cuts through the university campus.

The Jamai Osmania ROB will provide an alternative route for vehiclists going towards Vidyanagar and Adikmet from Tarnaka and vice-versa. The ROB is also expected to ease traffic congestion on the Mettuguda-Tarnaka main road. The Chief Minister will also lay the foundation stone for development of the Begumpet-Fatehnagar link road. The foundation-laying ceremony will be held on Saturday.
Yey! YSR is also completing leftover works from the previous Govt...

HSMC fab unit in Hyd.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Indl_Goods__Svs/Hindustan_Semiconductor_plans_2_bn_fab_in_Andhra_Pradesh/articleshow/ 2302275.cms
had difficulty opening the link. hence posting dtls for benefit of others ...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2283730,prtpage-1.cms
India facing hurdles in luring chip investment
16 Aug, 2007, 0215 hrs IST,Shelley Singh, TNN
NEW DELHI: The semiconductor policy that sought to boost chip making in India was announced with much delay and lot of fanfare in March this year. But the euphoria seems to have died down, with hardly any action on the ground. While companies keep announcing new fabs around the world (outside India) they cite government delays in coming out with specific guidelines as reasons for lack of activity in India. With no guidelines on how the subsidy announced in the policy will be given as yet on setting up chip fabs, companies aren’t able to do any financial planning.

The costs of new fabs — around $3 billion to $4 billion — have already gone up by 25% in the last six months and technology is also changing fast. Further delays will cost them dearly. Already, the delay means that a full scale fab in India may not see the light of the day before 2011. However, sources add that the guidelines could be out “soon, perhaps by next week”.

“Financial closure is dependent on the guidelines. Companies have to commit upwards of $2 billion to set up a fab and there’s lot of planning that goes into it, in terms of selecting technology, doing the blueprint, engineering design, construction et al.

Already, investment decisions are being made for 2009-10. Delays in coming out with guidelines will push full scale fab to the 2010-11 horizon,” says Bob Kondamoori, managing director of Sandalwood Partners, an investor in the SemIndia fab project in Hyderabad. However, SemIndia says it’s on track to complete the assembly test mark and pack (ATMP) facility by March 2008. ATMP is a testing and packing facility for semiconductors.

Says India Semiconductor Association (ISA) president Poornima Shenoy: “The guidelines should be out soon. The sector is hotting up. There is a lot of interest from global companies to set up fabs, but they need to know the guidelines before they make a firm commitment.”

The cost of the fabs goes up with every new generation of technology. Till recently, the industry has been working on 90 nano meter (nm) geometry and 300 mm wafer fab, the defining parameters for a fab unit. From early 2007 chip makers have replaced 90 nm with 65 nm geometry.

The shift means an additional investment of at least $1 billion in new equipment. For those planning a fab for 2010-11, the technology will be 40 nm specification, requiring additional investments in new equipment.

The cost of constructing a fab (civil construction) is not cheap either. Building a shell of a fab with 70,000 wafer starts a month capacity, spread over 2,00,000 sq ft alone, costs $750 million to $1 billion. Shift from 65 nm to 40 nm will cost another $1 billion. And simply getting a blueprint done, that is engineering design for a fab plant can cost $35-40 million.

“It will take at least 3-6 months after the guidelines are announced to do the financial closure. The delay is definitely impacting the planning process,” says Mr Kondamoori...

Moser Baer already has a 40 mw solar fab unit which it expects to increase to 600 mw in a few years. As of now only Moser Baer, which has set up a solar photo voltaic fab and SemIndia, which is doing an ATMP facility are the ones who have a project on the ground. Sources say there could a few others as well. Even Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC), which is planning a $4 billion fab, is yet to decide on a location.

However, it has selected partners for its fab which include Infenion, Siemens and Air Liquide. Says HSMC chairman and co-founder Deven Verma, “Since the time the policy was announced we have finalised a lot of things. Guidelines will come and this would attract many fabs in India.”

But even as the government has pussyfooted on the policy, companies are looking at alternative destinations to set up fabs. Samsung for instance has plans to set up seven fabs in Korea with an estimated investment of $33 billion. Toshiba and Texas Instruments are jointly planning investments with an investment of $35 billion in Japan. Though these companies never really made known their intention of setting up these fabs in India but government guidelines on setting up fabs could help catalyse that growth.

http://fabcity.com/2007/03/06/hsmc-india-plans-us-45-billion-fab-unit/
HSMC India, plans US$ 4.5 Billion Fab Unit

http://www.bluebytes.info/newscheck/semindia.aspx
Andhra to become chip hub
Summary: Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing (HSMC) is planning to invest over $2 billion to set up a wafer manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh.
Publication: The Economic Times, Edition: Pune, Journalist: Bureau, Page No: 1, Location: Top-Right, Width(cms): 5, Height(cms):4
AP swings HSMC's vote for $2-bn fab
Summary: ANDHRA Pradesh is on course to become the fab capital of India. After bagging the $3 billion-SemIndia project, the state is poised to garner another big-ticket investment of over $ 2 billion in the semi-conduct
Publication: The Economic Times, Edition: Hyderabad, Journalist: Appaji Reddem & Sreekala G, Page No: 1, Location: Bottom-Center, Width(cms): 4, Height(cms):18
Hindustan Semiconductor plans $2-billion fab unit in Hyderabad
Summary: ANDHRA Pradesh is on course to become the fab capital of India. After bagging the $3-billion Semlndia project, the state is poised to garner another big-ticket investment of over $2 billion in the semiconductor sector from Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC).
Publication: The Economic Times, Edition: Mumbai/Delhi, Journalist: Appaji Reddem & Sreekala G, Page No: 8, Location: Top-Right, Width(cms): 20.5, Height(cms):13
Hindustan Semiconductor plans $2-b fab in Andhra
Summary: ANDHRA Pradesh is on course to become the fab capital of India. After bagging the $3-bil*lion Semlndia project, the state is poised to garner another big-ticket investment of over $2 billion in the semiconductor sector from Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC).
Publication: The Economic Times, Edition: Pune, Journalist: Appaji Reddem & Sreekala G, Page No: 15, Location: Top-Right, Width(cms): 16, Height(cms):14
Hindustan Semiconductor plans $2 bn fab in Andhra Pradesh
Summary: Andhra Pradesh is on course to become the fab capital of India. After bagging the $3-billion SemIndia project, the state is poised to garner another big-ticket investment of over $2 billion in the semiconductor sector from Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC).
Publication: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, Edition: Internet, Journalist: Appaji Reddem & Sreekala G
AP swings HSMC vote for fab
Summary: ANDHRA Pradesh is on course to become the fab cap*ital of India. After bagging the $3 billion-Semlndia project, the state is poised to garner another bit-ticket investment of over $ 2 billion in the semi*conductor sector. Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing (HSMC),
Publication: The Economic Times, Edition: Chennai, Journalist: Appaji Reddem & Sreekala G, Page No: 1, Location: Top-Center, Width(cms): 4, Height(cms):13
AP swings HSMC's vote for $2-bn fab
Summary: ANDHRA Pradesh is on course to become the fab capital of India. After bagging the $3 billion-Semlndia project, the state is poised to garner another big-ticket investment of over $ 2 billion in the semi-conductor sector. Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing (HSMC), promoted by a consortium of NRIs
Publication: The Economic Times, Edition: Bangalore, Journalist: Appaji Reddem & Sreekala G, Page No: 1, Location: Middle-Right, Width(cms): 4, Height(cms):20

Huda plans wider roads in suburbs

HYDERABAD: It is not just city roads that are being widened and properties acquired for smooth flow of traffic. Now, it is the turn of villages on the outskirts, especially the ones close to the upcoming Outer Ring Road (ORR), to witness the road-widening exercise.

The 20-ft to 40-ft wide roads in surrounding villages will be widened to 100-150 feet depending on the need.

The roads and buildings (R&B) department has decided to widen and develop 33 radial roads connecting the Outer Ring Road (ORR) at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore for smooth flow of traffic. Of the total cost, about Rs 750 crore will be spent for acquisition of land for these roads.

To begin with, three stretches—Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar-Himayatsagar bund, covering a distance of 12 km, Rethibowli-AP Police Academy-Vikarabad state highway, and Tippu Khanidge-Narsingi—will be developed in the first phase at a cost of Rs 175 crore. “We have taken up three roads that connect the ORR from Gachibowli to Shamshabad. The phase-I works will begin in October,’’ R&B superintending engineer B Laxmaiah said.

Tenders for the phase-I works are likely to be invited in the first week of September and works will be completed in 18 months.

The 33 radial roads are divided into several categories depending upon the traffic flow. Depending on traffic density, some roads will be widened to four, six and eight lanes. The plan envisages widening, construction of footpaths, central median with lighting and beautification works.

The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) has conducted traffic studies on these radial roads, which need to be widened and developed to reach the ORR from the Inner Ring Road in the city.

While Huda will bear 30 per cent of the cost, transport and roads and buildings department will pitch in with 25 per cent and the municipal administration and urban development department 10 per cent.

Source: TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Huda_plans_wider_roads_in_suburbs/articleshow/2305841.cms)

Cyberabad Times (more on Jamia Osmania Flyover) ...
Finally it finished
The jinxed rail overbridge at Jamai Osmania, near Vidyanagar, will finally be thrown open to public by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on August 25...

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) authorities said that apart from ROB inauguration, the chief minister will also lay the foundation for a new link road from the Hyderabad Public School at Begumpet to Fatehnagar and inaugurate the newly-built Metro Rail Bhavan at Saifabad.

Explaining the salient features of the flyover, GHMC officials said the government gave administrative sanction for Rs 6 crore in 2001. The total length of the bridge is about 674 metres with a ramp length of 135 metres on the Tarnaka side and 90 metres on the Adikmet side. the railway bridge portion was about 36.40 metres. It has about 22 spans, with each span covering 18.74 metres. The carriage width is 10 metres and one-metre-wide footpath on both sides.

As per the agreement, the agency to whom the work was allotted should have completed the work by March 2005. The reason for the delay is that the local people opposed acquisition of their properties. It took time for the corporation to convince the residents on the need for having the ROB. The contractor too caused delay, citing escalation of prices in construction material like cements, concrete and steel.

The railways had also their share of contribution to the delay as they took considerable time to complete its portion of work. The traffic police either did not lag behind others in contributing to the delay, by not cooperating with the municipal corporation as they did not divert the traffic and instead allowed it to move at the construction site. Source: The New Indian Express

do take the time to add your name to the list in the thread below:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=343438&page=7

APIIC receives bids for its 'troubled' land
25 Aug 2007, 0231 hrs IST,TNN
HYDERABAD: Even as opposition parties found fault with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) for trying to dispose of land at Raidurg near Hi-Tec City, the corporation received five bids for four parcels of the land. The nodal agency for infrastructure development had put up for sale 140 acres in five parcels — one parcel of 100 acres, three of five acres each and one of 25 acres.

On the last day of bidding on Friday, the corporation received four bids for five-acre parcels from ITC, Le Meridian, Orchid Hotels and Salarpuria Group. In fact, this is the second attempt by ITC to buy land in that area. Earlier, it had filed a bid quoting Rs 30 crore per acre and backed out quoting technical reasons.

There were two contenders for the 25-acre parcel including DLF and Mantri Developers.

However, the 100-acre parcel failed to attract any bidders. The corporation had called for initial bids with a reserve price of Rs 18 crore per acre. The corporation has been working on a plan to develop a Hyderabad Knowledge City Park in Raidurg by auctioning the land. The process, however, has been going through a rough patch since the land in question is still involved in litigation. A case on the land is pending in Supreme Court. The government had earlier acquired the land from its owners under the Urban Land Ceiling Act. The government’s move was upheld by the High Court and the petitioners approached the Supreme Court. Though there is no interim order on the issue from the apex court, the issue is still pending judgment.

Meanwhile, the corporation put the land up for sale on the solicitor general’s advice. APIIC has also promised the bidders that their money would be refunded in case the Supreme Court judgement goes against the corporation. The bidders will submit their financial bids by August 27...
some progress ...

Source: Economic times epaper


A MULTI-million dollar township project is on the anvil on the outskirts of Hyderabad city. This $280-million (Rs 1,120 crore) project is being led by a consortium called PBEL comprising of Israeli firms Property & Building Corporation (PBC) and Electra Real Estate (ERE), Belgium’s Millennium Diamond Holdings (MDH), Hyderabad-based Incor Infrastructure, along with a private investor.
PBEL proposes to develop the project on a 28-acre patch located off the first phase of the Hyderabad’s Outer Ring Road (ORR), 7 kms from Andhra Pradesh’s financial district. The project will be marketed by Bangalore-based Asipac Projects.
Confirming the development, Asipac CEO Amit Bagaria said “The 3 million sq ft development comprises of 3,700 apartments priced between Rs 20-40 lakh. It also includes a retail component of about 1.5 million sq ft, primarily catering to the residents.”
“Phase I of the project of about 750 units is slated for completion by early 2009 and the entireproject would be completed by late 2010,” he said.
PBEL plans to invest $3 billion in India in various real estate projects. So far, $65 million has been invested in land parcels in Hyderabad and Mysore. According to Asipac, PBC and ERE are majority stakeholders in PBEL holding 72% totally while MDH owns 8%, with the remaining 20% being shared by Incor and M A Alagappan of the Murugappa Group in his personal capacity.
“It makes good business sense to invest in India today as the market for residential developments is huge in the country. In 2005, 1,55,000 residential units were sold in the organised sector across 8 metros. This totals to about 69 million sq ft of space. In 2006, 93 million sq ft of residential space was sold in the organised market. The figure for 2007 is expected to touch 111 million sq ft,” Mr Bagaria said.
The Israeli companies have real estate businesses spread across North America, Europe and are now entering India. Electra Real Estate is part of part of the $1,120 million diversified Elco Holdings, which owns over 75 hotels in Europe (Hilton, Marriott, Accor) apart from 5 Nasdaq-listed tech companies. PBC, a subsidiary of IDB Development, is active in the realty space in the US, Israel, Romania and Ukraine.
Incidentally, the IDB Group is Israel’s largest conglomerate with global assets in excess $48 billion. In this context it must be mentioned that MDH, Belgium, has been in India for close to 10 years. Its subsidiary, WDM, has a 100% EOU employing over 2100 people at the Vizag SEZ. MDH owns Bettonville, a leading supplier of tools for the diamond cutting industry.