Even as political parties in Andhra Pradesh debate the sale of government land, industry is busy looking for locations in semi-urban areas, about 100 to 150 kms away from cities like Hyderabad or Visakhapatnam.
Says a CEO of a mid-size IT company, ??It is always ideal to have land little away from the urban pressure, especially after the twin blasts and traffic jams in the city.?? Another IT company promoter adds, ??Now the city is expanding rapidly, hence, it would be unwise to leave the city at this juncture??.
Be it IT or BT (biotechnolgy) or even a manufacturing facility, industry wants to locate businesses a little away from Hyderabad. However, industry officials want the locations to have an urban flavour in order to attract employees and their wards.
This is not a new trend, says a senior government official, who is overseeing land supply from the state?s perspective. Even while the government has been asking new projects to opt for growing cities like Visakhapatnam or Vijayawada, industry still prefers Hyderabad.
State officials say industry is ready to suffer traffic and security problems for another two-three years till ?world-class? structures and infrastructure come up around the city. ??May be by 2009, the traffic on city roads will disappear,?? a traffic official says, considering that the city will move toward Shamshabad, where the international airport is coming up.
Besides, industry feels that urban infrastructure in Visak-hapatnam and Vijayawada is not adequate to accommodate even 10% of their present demand. Thus, it is unwise to move to other towns just for land sake, they feel.
Confirming this trend, a real estate broker from Hyderabad said he was approached by at least three mid-size IT companies for land on Nizamabad Road, Karimnagar Road or Vijayawada Road, where prices are about 25-30% lower.