Opponents of Telangana constantly resort to a false propaganda – that “Brand Hyderabad” is being affected by the Telangana agitation. And in the past three years, several independent reports have nailed this lie. Here is a latest report published in Times of India, that proves beyond doubt that “Brand Hyderabad” is unaffected by the Telangana movement.
Despite Telangana heat, city’s Information Technology cup brimming over: Report
By: Swati Bharadwaj
Last year’s T-upheavals have failed to mar Hyderabad’s image as one of the most-preferred destinations for IT/ITeS operations in the country thanks to availability of skilled manpower (compared to other metros), proactive government policies, reasonable and competitive realty prices as well as better infrastructure, according to leading realty consultancy firm Knight Frank.
Knight Frank also estimates that new developments like the outer ring road project and the metro rail are expected to make Hyderabad an even more viable and attractive corporate destination in coming years.
The firm’s study of the office space market in the 2011-12 fiscal shows that a total of 5.4 million sq.ft was absorbed in the city. Of that 3 million sq.ft were taken up in the first half and the remaining 2.4 million during the second half of the fiscal. Interestingly, the IT/ITeS sector, which accounts for a lion’s share of office space absorption, actually ramped up its share of total occupancy in the second half of the fiscal despite the Sakala Janula Samme crippling the city in September and October of last year.
In the first half, IT/ITeS accounted for 78% or 2.3 million sq.ft of the total office space absorption of 3 million sq.ft in the city thanks to players like Facebook, Convergys, Cognizant and IBM lapping up space. But, in the second half, the sector accounted for a whopping 88% or 2.1 million sq.ft out of the total office space absorption of 2.4 million sq.ft as players like Genpact, Google India, Amazon, DuPont and Cognizant stepped up their presence in the city.
Some of the big-ticket office deals concluded in the city during the fiscal in question includes the 4.5 lakh sq.ft space picked up by Deloitte in Hitech City, 3.5 lakh sq.ft taken over by Cognizant at Gachibowli, 2.2 lakh sq.ft acquired by IBM at Manikonda and over 1.17 lakh sq.ft picked up by Google India at Kondapur.
“In the past one year, despite political agitations in the region and weak sentiment on the global economic front, the office market in Hyderabad firmed up and continued to attract newer occupants,” said the report by Knight Frank India research head, Samantak Das.
And things are only expected to look up for the city in the coming year with a number of Grade A projects scheduled to become operational by the end of 2012. Also, several projects, albeit smaller ones, are coming up in the central business district (CBD) areas of Begumpet, SP Road, Punjagutta, Somajiguda and Ameerpet and non-CBD areas of Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills thanks to the growing popularity of non-IT/ITeS space along with the proliferation of newer sectors like manufacturing and telecom into the city, the report has found.
Apart from IT/ITeS sector, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector drove demand for office space in the city with players like Bank of America and First America picking up space in Hi-Tec City, Standard Chartered Bank in Jubilee Hills and ICICI Lombard in ICICI Towers in Gachibowli.
Interestingly, the IT/ITeS sector, which accounts for a lion’s share of office space absorption, ramped up its share of total occupancy in the second half of the fiscal despite the Sakala Janula Samme crippling the city in September and October of last year