Metro rail work in phases

Metro rail construction activity will be taken up in a phased and
staggered manner. Initially, construction will be taken up on
stretches with wide roads, especially Miyapur-Panjagutta,
Nagole-Mettuguda and LB Nagar-New Market. Simultaneously, carriageway
will be widened on narrow parts of the metro rail corridors.

These decisions were taken at a joint coordination-cum-review meeting
held by Hyderabad police commissioner A K Khan on the Traffic
Management Plan for the metro rail works with Hyderabad Metro Rail MD
N V S Reddy, traffic police of Hyderabad and Cyberabad, GHMC,
Concessionaire L&T and traffic experts here on Tuesday.

Traffic consultants for L&T made a presentation on the detailed road
inventory of metro rail corridors and the proposed traffic management
action plan to minimise inconvenience to commuters during the metro
rail construction activities.

At the meeting, the Metro Rail MD explained the construction plan,
which involves most of the construction activities being done in
Miyapur and Nagole casting yards with adoption of pre-cast
construction methods for both viaduct and stations.

Khan advised the traffic police to identify works required for
improving road surface on all corridors as well as on parallel and
alternative roads to enable smooth traffic flows during the
construction period.

Delhi, Hyderabad airports among top in the world

The airports of Delhi and Hyderabad have been ranked among the top
airports of the world in the airport services quality (ASQ) by the
global body, Airports Council International (ACI).

While Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi Airport retained the number one
position for the second year in a row among 49 airports handling 5-15
million passengers per annum (mppa), Indira Gandhi International
Airport came fourth in a group of 19 airports in the 25-40 mppa
category.

Mumbai's CST International Airport, run by GVK-led consortium, ranked
in the 15-25 mppa category, the ACI said.

While the Indian airports ranked among the top in different
categories, the ACI declared Incheon inSeoul, Changi in Singapore,
airports in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai Pudong as the overall top
'best airports worldwide'.

The rankings were done on the basis of a global ASQ survey by the ACI
of 153 airports, including 6 Indian ones.

The survey, which gets a representative sample of flights,
destinations and passenger groups served by the airport, is intended
to get feedback from users on a range of service delivery parameters.
ACI audits the process to ensure compliance and validates the results.

The awards will be formally presented in April at the ACI's
Asia-Pacific Regional Conference to be held here.

This was announced by P S Nair, who has been promoted as CEO
(Corporate Airport Sector) of the GMR Group which leads the Delhi
International Airport Limited (DIAL) consortium. Till last month, he
was the DIAL CEO.

In DIAL, Nair was replaced by I P Rao while the Hyderabad airport,
also run by GMR-led joint venture, now has Vikram Jaisinghani as its
CEO.

Nair said the Hyderabad airport has improved on its ASQ rating which
now stands at 4.51 and retained the top slot in its category
consecutively for the second year.

On the IGI airport, he said the ASQ ratings improved "immensely" after
the plush new Terminal-3 became operational last year.

To questions, he said a few areas on which the Delhi airport was
lacking included value for money, inadequate shopping facilities and
the ease of reaching the airport. "We are looking to improve these
areas," Nair said.

ACI Director General Angela Gittens said airports in the Asia Pacific
"made clean sweep" in the category of 'best airports worldwide' as
they did last year.

BHEL-BEL JV to set up Rs.2000 crore unit at Fab City, Hyderabad

Two Navaratna PSUs Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Bharat
Electronics Limited (BEL) have formed a joint venture to manufacture
solar wafers, cells and modules to meet domestic as well as export
demands. The unit is likely to come up on 70 acres at Fab City, which
never really took off.

The project envisages setting up of a manufacturing facility with a
capital investment of Rs 2,000 crore and will provide direct
employment to 1,000 people. A high-level team of officials recently
visited the city to identify possible location for the plant.

Sources said the team identified about 70 acres in Fab City as the
ideal location. It was said to have expressed satisfaction over the
land as it is located in an SEZ meant for similar industries and also
because of its close proximity to the international airport. Another
positive point is, the official say, BHEL has a major unit in the
city.

"Fab City is an ideal location for setting up any semiconductor and PV
panel manufacturing facility as several similar facilities have
already started functioning. This will enable the board of the joint
venture to finalise Hyderabad as possible destination," sources said.

BHEL and BEL had joined hands to form the joint venture to enter the
domain of semiconductors and solar panel manufacturing in 2008. Since
then, the new venture has been on the look out for a suitable
location. After studying the facilities such as power and water, the
high-level team was said to have expressed preference for Hyderabad.
"The team has submitted its proposals to the board for concurrence on
the location in Fab City. We are awaiting for their response," the
sources added.

As per the proposal submitted to the state, the project will have 250
MW solar photovoltaic (PV) production facility for processing silicon
wafers, solar cells and PV modules in new plant. Chief minister N
Kiran Kumar Reddy reportedly gave the go-ahead to provide all the
required facilities to the public sector unit.

This is the second such major public sector venture to come to Andhra
Pradesh in the past two years, the first being the joint venture unit
of BHEL and NTPC. The BHEL-NTPC joint venture has set up its first
unit to manufacture equipments for the power plants at Mannavaram near
Srikalahasti in Chittoor district with an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore.

The sources said the government would de-notify 80 acres at Fab City
to hand over it to the BHEL-BEL joint venture, once they get the
go-ahead from BHEL-BEL board

GHMC to take over 14 Industrial Area Local Authorities (IALA) areas from APIIC

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will take over 14
Industrial Area Local Authorities (IALA) areas,which are now under
Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).

The GHMC standing committee on Tuesday resolved to merge them into
Greater Hyderabad.Once they are merged,GHMC would look after
maintenance of roads,providing infrastructure facilities,building
permissions and also collection of property tax from residential
colonies under IALAs.

The resolution will be sent to the state government for approval now,
GHMC mayor B Karthika Reddy told reporters on Tuesday.

GHMC officials said apart from industrial areas,residential colonies
that have come up in areas like Madhapur,Gachibowli, Serilingampally,
Nacharam, Mallapur, Pragathinagar (Kukatpally), Patancheru, Sanatnagar
and Jeedimetla are now under the control of IALAs of APIIC.

Building permissions and tax collections are being looked after by the
local authorities.
Since Industrial Area Local Authorities do not have manpower and
infrastructure,many colonies lack civic infrastructure.Welfare
associations of several residential colonies have been demanding to
merge their colonies with Greater Hyderabad for better amenities.

Hyderabad in New York Times 2011 list of must see places

Giving a much-needed lift to Hyderabad's T-bruised image, the New York
Times (NYT) has featured the city of pearls in its list of `41 places
to go in 2011.' In fact, Hyderabad is the only Indian city to have
made it to this year's NYT list, released earlier this month, which in
its earlier listings has featured Mumbai, Mysore and even the holy
city of Varanasi along with the happening beaches of Goa.

"Dynastic grandeur in the heart of modern India", is how the western
daily describes the Nizam's land, which shares the must-visit tag with
other fascinating holiday destinations such as Koh Samui ( Thailand),
Loreto (Mexico), Dresden (Germany), Budapest ( Hungary) and so on.
"The new Taj Falaknuma Palace (in Hyderabad) is a window into the
past" and "completes the Indian palace tour for the south," the daily
reads further claiming that a trip to the over 120-year-old
palace-turned-star hotel can "make a trip to Hyderabad worth while
just on its own." While applauding the city's rich heritage, the list
even makes a mention of the recently opened Park Hotel,Somajiguda as
it describes it as "a futuristic structure with an aluminium and glass
facade inspired by the settings and metalwork found in the Nizam's
jewellery collection."

So, hoping to cash in on this new-found recognition for the city, the
state tourism department has rushed in to use the NYT list as the
`selling' point for its tableau that would be part of the Republic Day
parade in the city on Wednesday. "We will showcase Hyderabad as a
favoured tourist destination across the world and also use the
opportunity to create awareness among people about how it is now a
joint responsibility for us to work towards making it the most
hospitable city in India," said Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary,
tourism, adding how it was a matter of huge pride for Hyderabad to
have made it to the international list. "It is a very prestigious list
and I am glad our city has been chosen over other Indian destinations
to be featured on it," he said.

And apart from the city's rich history, the NYT list also portrays the
`hi-tech' achievements of Hyderabad as it mentions how in the last one
decade "a new sort of wealth has arrived" here through the outsourcing
of international companies, which in turn has "inspired a boom of
sleek cafes and restaurants" in the city.

However, such an honour has failed to impress heritage experts here
who feel that the description of Hyderabad on the list comes across as
a "rich-man's" view of the city and does not justify its qualification
as one of the 41 must-see places in the world. "The two hotels (listed
in the article) are not places any regular tourist can visit. You have
to pay a heavy price to be there," said city-historian Narendra Luther
pointing out how given a choice he would have showcased the Golconda
Fort, the bazars of Old City and Chowmahalla Palace, among others, to
pull crowds to Hyderabad.

Tatas to set up 3 joint venture projects in Aerospace SEZ, in Hyderabad

Following Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata's announcement that Hyderabad
will be made their aerospace hub, the company is setting up three
joint venture projects in the Aerospace Special Economic Zone at
Adibhatla near Hyderabad with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore.

Nova Integrated System for manufacturing radar and electronic
equipment for defence, Tata Aero-structure Limited for assembling of
aircraft equipment and Tata Aerospace Systems Limited for
manufacturing aircraft parts are the three projects announced by the
company.

The trio will collaborate with overseas partners for setting up the units.

Nova Integrated System chief executive officer and managing director
Ajit Bhavnani met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on
Monday and discussed the proposed projects, said official sources in
the Chief Minister's Office.

"The three projects will attract an investment of Rs 1,000 crore and
provide direct employment to 1,000 persons. The government is in the
process of allotting 125 acres of land in the SEZ to the companies,"
the CMO sources said.

Tata Aerospace Systems, a Tata Group company, has already established
its unit at the SEZ for manufacturing helicopter cabins with an
investment of Rs 1,000 crore. It was during the inauguration of this
facility in November last that Ratan Tata announced his group's
proposal for establishing aerospace and defence clusters in Hyderabad.

The three overseas partners with whom the Tatas would collaborate
would visit India next month for the Aero Show in Bengalore.

"The Tatas would like to conduct ground-breaking ceremony for the
projects during February in the presence of their overseas partners,"
said the state government official.

Prime Minister inaugurates TIFR Hyderabad Campus

Deccan Chronicle  20.10.2010


The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the prestigious Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) campus coming up in Gopanapalli in Hyderabad. The campus will become operational by end-2013 and have about 1,500 doctoral, 700 post-doctoral students and 250 faculty members.

The campus, coming up at an investment of `2,500 crore would focus on “Light, Matter and Life” which are closed linked to applications in the areas of health, energy and communication.

The Governor, Mr E.S.L. Narasimhan, Chief Minister, Mr K.Rosaiah, Union minister for law and justice, Mr Veerappa Moily, principal scientific advisor to the Union government, Dr R. Chidambaram, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Dr Srikumar Banerjee, TIFR director Prof. Mustansir Barma and University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor, Prof. Seyed E. Hasnain were present on the occasion.

The state government and the officials of University of Hyderabad (UoH) heaved a sigh of relief as the programme went off peacefully though some student unions and teachers associations threatened to conduct demonstrations against the allotment of 209 acres on the university campus to TIFR.

“It is befitting that Hyderabad, which has emerged a a knowledge and technology centre, should be chosen as the site for the new campus of the TIFR. I would like to congratulate the AP government for inviting the TIFR to set up its campus here,” Dr Singh remarked after laying the foundation stone