Outskirts of Hyderabad might see jump in construction activity

Source: ET Realty, Dt: 2.2.2017

With affordable housing being the catchphrase of Budget 2017, the focus could well shift from core areas of Hyderabad to its cheaper peripheries, said market analysts post Arun Jaitley's close to two-hour-long speech on Wednesday. The bouquet of incentives that the finance minister showered on this segment, however, left industry biggies disappointed.

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"Though a lot of people think Hyderabad does not have the potential to grow in the affordable housing segment, I feel otherwise. The city's outskirts, where land rates are cheaper, are perfect destinations for such ventures that have so far not been economically viable," said Sandip Patnaik, managing director (Hyderabad) of global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle. He felt the benefits extended to this segment were very encouraging.

Apart from an increased carpet area, affordable housing was also awarded the 'infrastructure status'. This will result in bigger homes for buyers and lower interest rates for developers. The average projected cost of these homes is Rs 15– Rs 20 lakh.

"This will push more local players to take up small projects that they shied away from until now. Currently, the city has just about two or three firms that build homes under 900 square feet," said S Ram Reddy, president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI – Hyderabad). He said, "Increased activity in this segment will also enhance sales among customers, primarily from the lower middle class."

That the government has eased the burden of capital gains tax on land owners – part of joint development agreements – will further ensure that the cost of these properties does not shoot northwards, experts said. "Until now, land owners had to pay a hefty capital gains tax – anywhere between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per sft of the land owner's share -- the moment they signed a deal with a developer. Now, they can pay this only once the project is completed. This will give them a breather and also make land transactions smooth," Reddy said.

Another high point of the Budget, according to the industry is the reduction in holding period for capital gains tax on immovable properties from three to two years. This means that a customer can now sell his or her house within two years of buying it, without having to pay this tax. The ceiling was three years until now.

"This might attract investors to the Hyderabad market, which is largely end-user driven. If investors can exit a project within two years, they would be more willing to park their money in the city," said Veera Babu, managing director (Hyderabad) of Cushman & Wakefield, another leading real estate service provider.

But while the construction and sale of cheaper homes might see increased in activity soon, major developers in the city say there's no hope for mid-sized or big-ticket projects. "We are extremely disappointed. Neither have we been awarded industry status (which would reduce lending rates for builders) and nor have individual tax-payers (those who comprise our prospective client base) been given much relief. So there's unlikely to be any jump in construction activity or sale of homes in these segments," said D S Prasad, director, Aparna Constructions.

An upcoming residential corridor in Hyderabad

Source: Times Property, The Times of India, Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Here is an account of how Miyapur has emerged as an upcoming residential corridor in the Hyderabad city.

Current status of the corridor

The major infrastructure project in the corridor is the development of the Metro node at Miyapur. The Miyapur-LB Nagar Metro route is being developed as Corridor-1 with a distance of about 30 km. Miyapur to SR Nagar and SR Nagar to LB Nagar are referred to as Stage-2 and Stage-5, under the overall work plan of the Hyderabad Metro Rail network.

As per latest information, Phase-1 comprising Nagole to Mettuguda (Stage-1) and Miyapur-SR Nagar (Stage-2), will become operational in the first week of June 2016. Operationalisation of this line will build connectivity to the corridor with other residential and commercial areas of Hyderabad. The state government has announced plans for extending the Phase-1 of the Hyderabad Metro.

From the corridors perspective, the Metro line is expected to be extended by a further 13 km from Miyapur to BHEL and Patancheru. The timeline for implementation of this segment has not been declared. An Inter-City Bus Terminal (ICBT) is also planned to be developed at Miyapur. However, the development timeline for the same is not clear at present as the proposal is awaiting some clearances.

The corridor has faced water supply problem in the summer season, when due to low water level in the reservoirs, water supply was erratic coupled with low pressure in the government water supply network. Residents had to take recourse to purchasing water from private vendors. However, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) is working on a plan to improve the pipeline work in Serilingampally Circle. This will improve the water supply of the corridor.

Present residential development

The corridor has a mix of apartments and plotted development. Bachupally has more plotted development options because of availability of land in the area. About 65 percent supply in the re-sale segment in the corridor is of multi-storey apartments followed by builder-floors independent floors. The 2-BHK format dominates across property types with a saleable area of 1,000-1,200 sq ft. This accounts for 61 percent supply in the re-sale segment with 3-BHK units having 35 percent share. The 3-BHK units are bigger in size with an average saleable area of 1,500 sq ft.

Miyapur, Chandanagar and Nizampet are amongst the top 10 localities by consumer preference in the city when it comes to purchase of a residential property. Similarly, in terms of consumers looking for rental options, Miyapur is again amongst the top 10 localities of Hyderabad. In terms of price level, the corridor caters to consumer preference in the lower price bracket.

More than 60 percent of supply in the corridor in the resale segment is within the Rs 20-40 lakh bracket. A further 29 percent is in the Rs 40-60 lakh segment. Together, the Rs 20-60 lakh bracket accounts for 91 percent supply in the resale segment. Evaluation of consumer preference in the corridor shows that almost the same percentage of consumers are looking for options within the Rs 20-60 lakh segment. This highlights the price sensitive nature of demand in the market.

The average price level in the market is Rs 3,000 per sq ft. Miyapur and Chandanagar have options in the Rs 3,200-3,400 per sq ft price range, while capital values in Nizampet and Bachupally are on the lower side. The price level in these localities is in the Rs 2,400-2,600 per sq ft range.

In line with general market trend, the price level in the corridor has been stagnant for some time. The overall price increment in all the localities of the corridor has been under 10 percent for the last two years.

Properties available in the corridor

The corridor offers relatively less expensive options for consumers as compared to localities which are closer to IT/ITeS office hubs. Within the corridor, Miyapur and Chandanagar are established localities with higher capital values (sq ft).Bachupally and Nizampet come next. This price differential impacts the budget and BHK format wise spread of options.

More than 50 percent supply is within Rs 20-40 lakh bracket. A further 35 percent is in the Rs 40-60 lakh segment. Together, they account for 89 percent supply. This highlights the price sensitive na ture of the market. Most of the supply in the Rs 20-40 lakh segment is in Nizampet and Miyapur localities. Miyapur, followed by Chandanagar and Nizampet, accounts for bulk of supply in the Rs 40-60 lakh brackets.

In a price sensitive market, the smaller 2-BHK format with an average size of 1,150 sq ft dominates the supply; its small size helps a consumer to keep acquisition cost low. Most of the supply in the 2BHK format is in the Rs 20-40 lakh price bracket wherein Nizampet leads with the highest share of 2-BHK options. The 3-BHK is the second most preferred category and most of it is concentrated in Miyapur. In budget terms, 60 percent of 3-BHK options are in the Rs 40-60 lakh price bracket with almost 75 percent being in the 1300-1700 sq ft size range.

Best sectors to invest in a home

Rental demand in the corridor emanates from buyers looking for residential options close to IT/ITeS office hubs in Madhapur and Gachibowli but cannot afford the options in localities which are close to them. Miyapur ranks high because of its location on National Highway-9 (NH-9) and presence of support infrastructure. It is easily accessible from different areas. Between Nizampet and Chandanagar, the former scores in terms of lower rentals while the latter is a well-established locality. Bachupally is still evolving and suffers from last mile connectivity and hence, the lower demand.

Based on home buying demand in sectors

Miyapur is the most preferred locality as it offers the best infrastructure as well as connectivity. It also has options across a wide price range from Rs 20-40 lakh to Rs 1-1.2 crore. This gives flexibility to the consumers to choose as per their budget. Though, most consumers are looking for 3-BHK options in Miyapur. Most consumers in Chandanagar are looking for 2-BHK format in the Rs 20-60 lakh price bracket. The demand for 3-BHK units is mainly in the Rs 40-60 lakh budget. More than 60 percent demand in Nizampet is in the Rs 20-40 lakh segment and for the 2-BHK format.

Best bedroom configurations to buy

Consumers prefer the 2-BHK format in the corridor from both house purchase as well as rent perspective. It has more than 50 percent share of consumer preference as rent or purchase options. This can be explained by the fact that relatively smaller size of the 2-BHK apartments helps a buyer to keep the overall purchase cost on the lower side. About 84 percent of consumer preference in the 2BHK segment is in the Rs 20-40 lakh segment followed by the Rs 40-60 lakh bracket with only 16 percent share. Almost 65 percent of 2-BHK availability is in the 950-1200 sq ft range and this gives flexibility to consumers to choose and buy. In the Rs 40-60 lakh bracket, 73 percent demand is for 3-BHK segment while the rest is for 2-BHK formats.

Price changes and future prospects

6 monthly change: 1%

Yearly change: 4%

The price trend over last few quarters in the corridor reflects the overall slow market conditions. The price has been flat and has not seen any change over six months or one year. Miyapur Corridor caters to a price sensitive demand-segment which is looking for affordable homes. The purchasing ability of this segment is affected more by slow economic conditions. The sale had declined in the corridor leading to over-supply. But sale over last few quarters has been quite steady. And the price level in some localities has seen marginal improvement. But the overall price level is expected to remain flat or see marginal increase.

Price movement for top localities by consumer preference

The price change in top localities by consumer demand over last quarter has varied across the localities. The price change varied from max of three percent to minimum of -3 percent. Miyapur, Gajularamaram and Pragathi Nagar continued the marginal price increment which they have witnessed over last few quarters. Price trend in Nizampet has been positive for last few quarters. The present price drop could've happened by way of correction. The average price in previous quarter had reached a level which was highest over last few years and was not sustainable. Same is the case with Chandanagar.

Uber starts bike-sharing service in Hyderabad

Source: The Economic Times, Dt: 30.1.2017

HYDERABAD: Cab aggregator Uber today commenced operations of uberMOTO, its bike-sharing product, in Hyderabad. 

The launch of the product was announced at an event held at T-Hub here last month in the presence of Travis Kalanick, Founder and CEO, and K T Rama Rao, Telangana Cabinet Minister for IT, Industries & Commerce. 
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Driver partners of uberMOTO were taken through a training session on various road safety related topics by representatives from the RTO before the starting their first trip, the company said in a statement. 

Kalanick was quoted as saying, "It's (uberMOTO) a quick, easy and affordable way to get around the city. And it's great to be working with a progressive, forward thinking government like Telangana on smart mobility solutions that can help reduce congestion in urban areas." 

Rama Rao said, "We recently achieved the top spot in ease of doing business in India which is a testament to our strong belief in making Telangana a start-up leader in India. 

"Uber has added another feather in our partnership today by launching uberMOTO to help solve the transportation and congestion problems for people in Hyderabad and I am hopeful that this service will help people in reaching their destination quickly and conveniently." 

JLL: Hyderabad fifth most dynamic city in the world

Source: The Hindu   Dt:18.01.2017

Hyderabad, the City of Pearls , has made it to the top 10 most dynamic cities across the world chosen by JLL City Momentum Index (CMI) 2017. It has been placed fifth with Bangalore on top of the list.

 

Other cities that made to the list are: Ho chi Minh City (2-Vietnam), Silicon valley (3-USA), Shanghai ((4-China), London (6-UK), Austin (7-USA), Hanoi (8-Vietnam), Boston (9-USA) and Nairobi (10-Kenya).

 

According to the index released by the Chicago-based cities research centre, JLL measures population, connectivity, technology, research & development, education, construction, real estate investment and property prices as the main criteria for choosing the most dynamic cities.

 

The JLL index says that a city's capacity to embrace rapid change determines its ability to compete in the world – today and in the future. "The overriding factors that characterise the world's most dynamic cities are technology and innovation and cities that best absorb, adapt and leverage these drivers come out on top", adds the report.

 

Although the most dynamic cities are spread across the world, more than half of the top 30 in the 2017 ranking are in Asia-Pacific. Bangalore, India's technology centre, has taken the number one spot. In fact, India snatched the lead from China as home to some of the world's fastest-changing cities, taking six of the top 30, compared with China's five.

 

"Liveability is also surfacing as an increasingly important driver of momentum, as it is key to attracting talent. Affordability and space constraints in San Francisco (21) contributed to knocking that city out of the top 20 for the first time and Hong Kong out of the top 30. The environment is also becoming a more critically determining factor in the index. Although in the top 30, Delhi (23) and Beijing (15) were hindered by poor environmental scores", says the JLL CMI. JLL is a financial and professional services firm specialising in commercial real estate services and investment management.

Hyderabad to witness highest supply of shopping malls in 2017

Source: Realty.Economic Times Dt: 5.1.2017

NEW DELHI: Eight shopping malls spanning 2.6 million square feet are expected to become operation in Hyderabad in 2017, according to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield. The city will see highest supply of malls this year.

While these malls would be spread across the city, majority of the malls would be seen in the north-west quadrant in locations such as Kondapur, Gachibowli and Chandanagar.
Anshul Jain, Managing Director, India, Cushman & Wakefield said, "Retail mall spaces have, in recent times, seen interest from institutional investors which is providing an additional boost to developers to take up retail malls space building. Further, once India also starts listing REITs, quality retail spaces will be seen as a viable mid to long term investment asset for investors. This has further enhanced the attractiveness of retail mall spaces for developers. This is perhaps the reason why 2017 is expected to see nearly double the amount of retail space as against 2016."

Following closely, Chennai will witness five shopping malls getting operational spanning over 2.5 million square feet during 2017. Most of the supply is likely to be in seen in peripheral locations such as Vandalur, Navalur, while two of the malls will become operational in Velachery during the year.

Upcoming shopping mall supply in 2017:

Telangana Information Technology Association inaugurates incubation centre in Hyderabad

Source: Indian Express, PTI ., Dt: 24.11.2016

Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) inaugurated Telangana Innovation and Incubation Center (TIIC) in Hyderabad on Thursday. The inauguration of the first Techno Rural Startup Incubation Center took place at Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies IIIT Basar campus, a release said.

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The Vice Chancellor Sirasani Sathyanarayana and TITA Global President Sundeep Kumar Makthala together inaugurated the centre.

"The TIIC will enable and support all the students of IIIT and youth around the village to transform their potential ideas into startups, it will support in the form of mentoring, funding, ideation, and knowledge support," TITA said.

IIIT Basara and TITA had signed an MoU to support creating the startup ecosystem in IIIT Basar, entrepreneurship with business plans along with the prototype infrastructure.

Japan-based SafeTraceHub, multimedia firm Prism Multimedia, and the US-based Adsidious have shown interest and given consent to extend their services in TIIC.

IIIT and TITA, through TIIC, would be working partners in major projects undertaken by the Government of Telangana as well as the Central government.

"TITA is planning to establish Telangana Incubation and Innovation Centers in all the universities and colleges across Telangana to encourage new startups at college level," TITA President Makthala said.

"The mandate of TIIC would be to generate a free flow of ideas and their implementation, in both directions of the constituent partners – RGUKT and TITA. The TIIC would help students to generate startups resulting from selected ideas. These start-ups would lead to generating more employment opportunities for the rural youth of the region," it said.

While the technical and legal support for the TIIC would be provided by TITA and its recognised channel partners, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) would provide the requisite infrastructure support – like working spaces, electricity, water, networking, bandwidth etc.

"The work at TIIC would be selectively permitted to be utilised as a part of the mandatory project work for students, under the guidance of recognised faculty of RGUKT and TITA experts. It was also agreed that a steering committee would be set up comprising of members from TITA as well as faculty of RGUKT…," said IIIT Basar Vice Chancellor Sathyanarayana.

In TIIC, start-ups can be established in digital media, IOT, solar energy, smart cities, telecom services, mobile technologies, cloud analytics, healthcare, robotics, learning management system, artificial intelligence etc, it added.

World’s second biggest sitting statue coming up near Hyderabad

Source: The Hindu, 10.12.2016

Tribute to Ramanujacharya at the start of 1000th birth anniversary celebrations

A complex with 108 temples and a towering 216-feet-high sitting statue of 10th century Bhakti saint Ramanuja is taking shape on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Called the Statue of Equality as a tribute to Ramanujacharya’s philosophy and teachings, the gigantic structure will mark the beginning of the 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of the religious guru, planned by Chinna Jeeyar Swamy and his religious trust.
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“The first phase of the project involving the statue will be ready by November next year and costs about Rs. 250 crore, which has come in the form of donations. The whole project, including the temple complex and the digital sound and light show at the base of the statue, is estimated to cost Rs. 1,000 crore,” said CEO of the project S.M. Balasubramanyam, who is a former head of the Endowments Department.

At Muchintal village

As workers pour concrete into the base of the structure, which is called the bhadrapeeta, a glimpse of the grandeur and magnificence of the project can be seen from the 54-feet high multi-storied structure on which the statue will come up in Muchintal village, a few miles from the Hyderabad International Airport at Shamshabad.

“The statue and the temple complex is the brainchild of Chinna Jeeyar Swamy. It will be the second highest sitting statue in the world [the tallest is the Great Buddha in Thailand at 302 ft]. From the ground to the tip of the staff, it is going to be 216 feet,” informs Yellapragada Suryanarayana of the trust which is executing the project.

The base of three-storied building is ready. “The containers with the pieces for the statue are reaching the Chennai port from China in the next few days and we have created accommodation and working space for about 60 specialist Chinese workers, engineers and welders who will assemble the statue,” says Mr. Suryanarayana.

700 tonnes of panchaloha

“We created a 3D digital scaled image, which was supervised by Chinna Jeeyar Swamy to the minutest detail. This was sent to Aerosun Corporation and they have used it to create 1,500 pieces that can be assembled into the statue. The biggest and the heaviest segment is the face which is a 24 ft by 24 ft piece. We have been promised that there will be no welding marks on the statue,” says sthapathi Prasad, who is supervising the work with adherence to spiritual traditions.

Nanjing-based Aerosun Corporation, which has an Art Statue Division, has shaped 700 tonnes of panchaloha into the gigantic statue of the Bhakti saint, right down to the sagging ear-lobes. The statue will be sited on a lotus held up by 36 massive elephants. Within the statue will be a concrete core around which will be the panchaloha sheet, varying in thickness between 10 mm and 20 mm.

Visible from flights

“The statue will be visible from the flights landing and taking off from Shamshabad Airport. We are expecting a similar announcement like the one made in the air [when flights have a view] near Amritsar on the Golden Temple,” says Mr. Suryanarayana.

It is a perfect message for the egalitarian seer Ramanuja, who preached that spiritual bliss is available for all human souls irrespective of their birth.