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Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority finalises plan
for Hyderabad Habitat Centre
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has finalized the concept plan for its
Hyderabad Habitat Centre and sent it for approval of the municipal administration and urban development
(MA&UD) department.
The Hyderabad Habitat Centre (HHC) is being set up in about 12.5 acres at Izzatnagar, close to Hi-Tech City
railway station, for promotion of heritage, art and culture on the lines of the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. It
would be an exclusive and permanent facility which can host events related to heritage, arts and culture. Since
HICC and Hitex are located in the same area, the project would be a complementary facility.
Former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was also HMDA board chairman, had in principle approved the
project in October, 2013. The HMDA had then appointed Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS)
Ltd as project advisor to assist the authority in the development of the concept till commercial operations begin.
The project cost has been pegged at Rs.134 crore, officials said. The habitat centre would have core facilities like
a visual art gallery, sculpture courts, library and resource centre along with a learning centre for organising
workshops, training, studio works etc. Another proposed facility is Artiplex, wherein four to five theatres would be
set up to host events round the year. An open air theatre and outdoor facilities including landscaped gardens,
plazas etc. have also been proposed. There would also be office spaces, board rooms, conference halls, banquet
halls and member facilities like guest accommodation, food courts, club house and indoor sports.
"The HMDA has engaged well-known architect Hafeez Contractor to prepare the drawings for the project, which
will be ready soon," HMDA metropolitan commissioner Neerabh Kumar told TOI. The project would be developed
under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and the HMDA would form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for
the development and operation of the centre.
"The HMDA will give about Rs.30 crore to the project developer. Major investments of about Rs.90 crore will be
mobilized from institutional members (select PSUs/ MNCs/ reputed NGOs) by offering the built-up office space in
proportion to their contribution. Apart from the institutional membership (1st level), corporate (2nd level) and
individual (3rd level) memberships would also be offered as approved by the governing council," a senior officer
of PPP cell of HMDA said.