Hyderabad, Sep 16 (IANS): The Telangana government has spent Rs 67,000 crore on development of Hyderabad during the last six years, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao said.
Rao told the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that after formation of Telangana state in 2014, the government laid special emphasis on development of the state capital.
Considering the growing importance of Hyderabad and its crucial role in the state's economy, the government initiated a number of schemes and projects for upkeep of existing infrastructure and creating new infrastructure.
"A total of Rs 67,035 crore worth of capital expenditure has been incurred on various infrastructure projects in Hyderabad since the formation of the state till date including few works which would be completed in next four months," he said.
He also revealed that the government is releasing Rs 78 crore per month to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Rs 70 crore per month to remaining municipalities in the state.
He told the House during short discussion on civic works and other infrastructure facilities in GHMC, its surrounding areas and also in other municipalities that the state government is committed to continuously invest in Hyderabad and surrounding areas especially within Outer Ring Road (ORR) to ensure that it keeps its competitive edge over all other metros.
KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said Hyderabad, continues to be a world class city and has retained its position as the best city in the country on various parameters.
"Hyderabad is rated as number one city on Mercer's 'quality of living index' for the fifth year in a row. Further Hyderabad has been ranked first among the best cities to live in India, 2020 by holidify.com. In fact, this site says that Hyderabad is fast turning into the New York city of India and credits the city for evenly distributing its population and companies to provide hassle-free life with less congestion and traffic," said KTR, who also holds the industry and information technology portfolios.
He pointed out that Hyderabad was rated as 'the world's most dynamic city' from amongst 130 cities across the globe by City Momentum Index (CMI) published by JLL on January 18, 2020. Hyderabad has been ranked first because of several key economic indicators like talent attraction, strong innovation economy and the challenges the city faces in trying to accommodate rapid growth and maintain positive momentum in the longer term, he said.
"Multiplicity of factors ensured that Hyderabad emerged as a magnet for employment creation and attracting new firms. It witnessed the highest office net absorption among any city globally and it is leading in India's office space creation with a 30 per cent share in first half of 2020 as reported by JLL."
With number of initiatives taken up by the state such as availability of uninterrupted and quality 24x7 power supply, TS-iPASS policy leading to growth in employment, one of the fastest growing real estate sectors, relatively low cost of living in comparison to other cities, metropolitan culture with one of the best maintained law and order for any metro, conducive weather, attractive government policies, much acclaimed public transportation system, and availability of social infrastructure, among others has made Hyderabad as one of the most preferred destinations, not only for individuals, but also for corporates.
The infrastructure works includes Durgam Cheruvu cable bridge which is ready for inauguration and is widely acclaimed as another iconic structure of Hyderabad like the Charminar and Golconda Fort. Seven skyways with a length of 137 km, 11 major corridors with a length of 166 km have been taken up with an investment of Rs 24,000 crore.
The minister said since the formation of the state in 2014, Telangana has been one of the fastest growing states in terms of urbanisation in the country.
He noted that at 42.6 per cent, Telangana's urban population is well above the national average of urban population of 31.2 per cent.
He said 74 new municipalities and seven new municipal corporations were formed in the last three years thus taking the total number of municipalities to 142. Additionally, 173 Gram Panchayats have been merged in the existing urban local bodies.
He listed out the steps taken by the government to improve infrastructure in urban areas, address the problems faced by the citizens, and provide them basic amenities and quality services.