TS government working on plan to develop Hitec City

Hyderabad: Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Telangana, on Wednesday announced that the Telangana government was working a comprehensive model for the development of Hi-tech City area.

Delivering his inaugural address at one-day conference on "Rise Infrastructure Hyderabad – Enhancing Liveability" in Hyderabad on Wednesday, he mentioned that Hyderabad was one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

"It is ranked at No. 14 in the Economic Performance Index (2014-16). Highlighting the salient features of the New Municipal Act, Kumar said that the new Act will be applicable for 128 municipalities and 12 municipal corporations. Seven new municipal corporations have been introduced to ensure that their growth takes place in sync with the Hyderabad city," the senior official said.

Government had been trying to address the pain points of the citizens. Several policies have been introduced to ease the approval process. The entire property tax registration and payment process has been made online.

Town planning process is simplified, building permissions process is online and self-certification has been introduced and all other approvals has been brought under single window clearance system. There is also the provision of stringent penalties in case of violations, he added.

To provide thrust to the green buildings in the State, a Green Building Code is provided in the New Municipal Act. The Act also specifies to provide necessary electric vehicle charging points at commercial buildings and large townships, he further said.

C Shekar Reddy, Convenor, CII Telangana Infra & Real Estate Panel & CMD, CSR Estates Limited, mentioned that there was need for benchmark initiatives and the need to develop new growth centres.