Hyderabad no more a favoured destination for big realtors

NEW DELHI: The unlimited Floor Space Index (FSI) model in Hyderabad could be touted as the best in the country with developers across metros pushing for a similar law in their respective cities to not just increase vertical growth but also expand 'lung' spaces. But despite its merits, the builder-friendly policy seems to be doing little to attract investors to the city- currently caught in the midst of a serious political turmoil. 

In fact, speaking to TOI on the sidelines of a national conclave organised by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) in New Delhi, recently, high-profile developers from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore said that Hyderabad was completely off their radar at present. Taking its place, they said, were cities such as Pune and Ahmedabad, which at one time were way behind the Andhra Pradesh capital in the realty race. 

"There was a time when any developer from Mumbai or Delhi, planning to expand outside the city, was looking at Hyderabad to start shop. That's not the case any longer. More people are today going to Gujarat instead," said Darshan Hiranandani, MD of the Mumbai-based major real estate player, Hiranandani Group of Companies that had, about two years ago, come to the city with plans of setting up an upscale SEZ on the outskirts. The project, however, failed to take off after the land was found embroiled in litigations. 

"This is one huge drawback that Hyderabad suffers from. If land bought through government auctions do not have a clear title (the Hiranandani group had bought it through an auction) then what is the guarantee that land bought from private parties will have one," said Sunil Mantri, chairman, Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd that has operations across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and so on. 

In Hyderabad too the firm has three huge tracts of land, bought when real estate was at its peak here about three-four years ago. The recession and Telangana turmoil erupted thereafter, and the plots have been lying idle since then. "Litigations apart, the market in Hyderabad now is not too conducive for new developments. So we are just sitting on our properties at the moment. There is no plan to start work at any of the sites- Sainikpuri, Miyapur and Hi-Tec City- anytime soon," Mantri said.