Originally published in the Times of India on 14th November, 2011
In 2000, when US President Bill Clinton gave India's then reigning information technology (IT) capital Bangalore the go-by in favour of the city of pearls, he willy-nilly anointed Hyderabad as the new face of IT in India and put the city on the global map. Hyderabad got second time lucky in 2006 when Clinton's successor George Bush Jr followed suit.
Over the past decade or so this historical 430-year-old city, that's strategically nestled in the centre of the country and was more synonymous with pearls, Charminar and the Nizam's riches, donned a youthful avatar as gleaming glass-fronted structures housing some of the big daddies of IT/ITeS industry sprang up. A host of top-notch R&D players like DuPont as well as leading academic and R&D institutions too trooped in giving the city the epithet of a global knowledge hub.
It's not for nothing that the World Bank rated Hyderabad as the second best city in India for doing business in its Doing Business 2011 report. After all, the city boasts of the best airport in the world in the 5-15 million passenger category, the longest flyover in the country (PVNR Expressway) at 11.5 kms, robust IT infrastructure, affordable real estate, booming hospitality sector, sans language barriers.
Before the IT boom swept Hyderabad off its feet, it was the stolid PSUs like BHEL, NMDC, HMT, BEL, IDPL and HAL that mushroomed in the late 50's and early 60's, giving the traditional city its first taste of industrialization and cosmopolitan culture, boosting local tax revenues in the bargain.
But today, the very foundation of this global knowledge hub seems to be getting shaky under the onslaught of the T-storm that's been brewing since 2009 end. There are fears that Brand Hyderabad, which had once given Bangalore and Chennai a run for their money, is now in danger of losing out to them due to the frequent disruptions due to the T-stir, bandhs, and even power cuts.
The BRAND HYDERABAD:
"Brand Hyderabad is nothing but its intellectual capital. No other city in India has so many R&D centres -- be they central PSUs, defence institutions or even private R&D centres. It is also strategically located in the center of India far away from shores, insulating it from foreign invasion.
Hyderabad’s fundamentals are its unmatched talent pool, physical infrastructure, educational infrastructure, cosmopolitan culture, a good quality of life and a reasonable cost of living as compared to Mumbai or Delhi. It’s unique flavour gives the city its distinct branding that perhaps none of the other Indian metros can boast of. Hyderabad is a mini-India, a global melting pot. It puts anyone who goes there at ease. Its spirit of entrepreneurship, the easy pace of life, along with the other advantages like its excellent physical and social infrastructure, its knowledgeable people and technology edge imparts it a unique flavor.
Hyderabad's supremacy as a global bio-pharma hub was also reinforced recently when the International Pharmaceutical Federation (IPF) decided to bring its 71st world congress for the first time to India and chose Hyderabad as the venue.