Hyderabad, capital city of Andhra Pradesh, has a wide variety of industries, with the IT sector being particularly strong. The city is referred to as Cyberabad (Cyber City) or the second Silicon Valley of India (after Bangalore).
Hyderabad’s 400 years of history feeds its tourism industry - the New York Times ranked the city the 19th most attractive travel destination in the world in 2011 (it was the only Indian city in the rankings). The city boasts some of the oldest and most spectacular historical monuments, palaces and parks in India, such as Mecca Masjid, Charminar, Golconda Fort and Chowmahalla Palace.
Area | 650 square kilometer |
Population | Approx. 6.8 million |
GDP (2008) | US$ 74 billion |
Literacy rate | 82.96% |
Principal religions | Hindu, Muslims ,Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhist |
Principal languages | Telugu, Urdu, English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali |
The rapid development of Hyderabad’s public infrastructure has been facilitated through the Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure Development Enabling Act (2001), which engages private sector participation in public projects or Special Purpose Vehicles, such as the Hyderabad Growth Corridor, a development project based around the city’s Outer Ring Road.
Air
Hyderabad International Airport ranked fifth globally, behind renowned international airports in Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Beijing, in the Airports Council International Airport Service Quality survey of air passengers (2010). The airport ranked first in the 5 to 10 million passenger capacity category in the survey.
The airport was designed as a “green” airport, cutting its energy usage by 25 percent and water usage by 30 percent compared to a similar facility without the energy-saving features, and has also earned a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Rating, making it the first airport in Asia to receive the honor.
Roads
Three national highways (No. 7, 9 and 202) run through Hyderabad. The city’s public transport is mainly handled by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, a state-owned transport corporation.
The Mahatma Gandhi Bus station, which has 74 platforms for buses, carries up to 120,000 passengers per day. Asia's largest bus station – the Inter City Bus Terminal – is under construction in 2012, expected to house 200 bus bays when completed.
Railway
Hyderabad has four main railway stations, namely Secunderabad, Nampally, Kachiguda, and Begumpet. Aside from the railway network that connects the city with other parts of India, Hyderabad has a Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS), which carries passengers between the city area and its suburbs.
Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City is a major technology town located at the center of Hyderabad. The city houses global technology giants including IBM, Metamor, Toshiba, Oracle, and Wipro, and Microsoft (for which Hyderabad is home to the largest research and development facility outside the U.S.). In addition, Google, CA Technologies, Amazon, as well as Facebook have set up offices there.
Aside from IT, Hyderabad is a pharmaceutical hub with leading companies like Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Divis Labs, Thompson Healthcare, Biocon, among others. The city has built biotechnology parks such as Genome Valley, Nano Technology Park, and Fab City, and there are several biotech parks under construction.
Hyderabad has an outstanding business school (The Indian School of Business) and other software training institutions. At the same time, the city government has established several academic and research organizations such as International Institute of Information Technology and Indian Institute of Technology, which provide the city with skilled and trained manpower.
Other business sectors in Hyderabad include poultry, mining, construction, gems and jewelry, food processing, textile and leather, automobile components, finance and others.
Hyderabad and its suburbs house the highest number of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) among India cities, most of which are related to IT/ITES and financial services. Among the SEZ’s and developers are CMC Limited, DivyaSree NSL Infrastructure Private Limited, DLF IT SEZ, Hyderabad Gems SEZ Ltd., and the Lanco Hills Technology Park Pvt Ltd. Further the development of HITEC City, a township with extensive technological infrastructure, prompted many multinational companies to establish facilities in Hyderabad. The city is home to more than 1300 IT and ITES firms, including global conglomerates such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Yahoo!, Dell, Facebook, and major Indian firms including Mahindra Satyam, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro. Within HITEC city are two IT/ITES SEZ’s, namely the RMZ Futura IT Park and the Hitec City-2 SEZ with state-of-the-art facilities and buildings.
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