Hyderabad, July 11: Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy wants Hyderabad made a world-class city and Andhra Pradesh to become the most preferred destination for investors in Asia. He also wants the State to steal a march over the industrially-advanced Gujarat and achieve the Number 1 position.
Reddy, who is holidaying in Goa, directed officials to make concerted efforts to achieve this goal in the light of the latest World Bank’s report.
The just-released International Finance Corporation-World Bank report, `Doing Business in India 2009’ ranks Hyderabad as the second most-preferred destination of business in India, next only to Ludhiana.
Mega metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangaluru and Kolkata lag behind Hyderabad. The parameters on the basis of which the report was prepared include starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, paying taxes, enforcing contracts, trading across borders and the ease of closing business.
In respect of important parameters like execution of contracts and closing down a business, Hyderabad ranks number 1 in the country.
The main finding of the study is that doing business is easier in Ludhiana and Hyderabad and more difficult to start and operate a business in Kochi and Kolkata. If other States also initiate reforms to cut down the time for issuing construction permits to 80 days as in Hyderabad, it would take India ahead of Germany, the report says.
With the greenfield international airport, pharmaceutical, BT and IT hubs, a number of international research laboratories, centres of excellence, best infrastructural facilities, etc., Hyderabad today is way ahead of other cities in attracting investments.
The chief minister said the GHMC area would be connected to the Outer Ring Road by rail and road all along the road. “Plans are being prepared to make the city the transit halt between Europe and China. The traffic bottlenecks in the city will be removed and roads widened on a war-footing. Parks will be developed all around Hussainsagar Lake and along the Necklace Road as part of the beautification of the lake.’’ Over 200 parks are being developed in colonies at a cost of Rs 20 crore. Of those, 52 were completed and the rest of 148 will be completed by October this year.
Reddy said a proposal for sanction of MMTS under Phase-II at an estimated cost of Rs 614 crore was pending with the ministry of railways for providing connectivity from Secunderabad to Medchal (28 km), Falaknuma to Shamshabad (20 km) and Secunderabad to Ghatkesar (19 km).
–Agencies–