A green city may come up a la Cyberabad in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: With the repeal of GO 111, individual home buyers and property investors opine that an overall 1.32-lakh acre land will be available within city limits. However, the real estate experts have different views on the upcoming development across 84 villages under the catchment area of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs.

Telangana government had initiated one of the largest afforestation programmes in human history - Haritha Haram. Now, the vision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is to create a green city in Hyderabad, said Hari Babu Gaddipati, Advisor at National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco) Telangana Chapter and Chairman of Lahari Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.

The State government is the biggest beneficiary of GO 111 withdrawal, as it is having more than 30,000 acres in this area. On an average price of Rs 3 crore per acre, the government lands in the area would totally cost roughly about Rs 1 lakh crore. After the repeal of GO 111, the government has a huge opportunity to build another city.

Initially, there were only Hyderabad and Secunderabad. In 2003, Cyberabad had come as a new city. The South-West part of the city will not be like any other existing location. The entire catchment area of both the reservoirs may become a green city. However, there are some serious issues to solve before the real estate development.

"Since the implementation of the GO 111 in 1996, no government has given approval to build houses in these villages so far. When the master plan was prepared for Greater Hyderabad in 2013, GO 111 villages were all put under bio-conservation zone. Though it is illegal to construct even a compound wall, several unauthorised buildings have come up," Hari Babu said.

"As per my knowledge, around 30 per cent of agricultural land of total 1.32 lakh acres is already converted into non-agricultural land in these villages. There are many cases pending at National Green Tribunal (NGT). It may take few years to clear all these cases at NGT. Also, the preparation of a new master plan would take at least a couple of years," he estimated.

Almost 50 per cent of the land is either owned by the government or under irregular constructions. The rest of the non-agricultural lands may not come into the property market. Out of the total 1.32 lakh acres of land, not more than 12,000 acres will be available for construction activities, according to the Naredco Telangana advisor.

When asked about the scope for any decline in property prices, Hari Babu says: "The demand for housing in West Hyderabad may come down with the upcoming layouts in the villages under GO 111. There shall not be any impact on other regions. I anticipate a price correction only in the Western part of the real estate market."

Hyderabad sees a requirement of around 30,000 residential units a year. As on today, about 2.50 lakh units are under construction in the city. Out of that, over 1.10 lakh units are in the Western part. This region may have over supply of properties, but the demand is also likely to grow accordingly. The property prices will remain stagnant for the next three years, he adds.

GO 111 Land Estimates