HITEC City

At the heart of Hyderabad’s technological progress juggernaut is the cybercity called HITEC City. The name stands for Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City and it provides a stark contrast to the historically-laden monuments and sites present in Hyderabad. The formation and birth of the HITEC City is the consummation of a state’s vision of becoming a contender in the information technology boom, largely reminiscent of Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah’s dreams when he started building Hyderabad itself.

HITEC City was a project borne by Telangana chief minister’s desire to include Telangana in the roll of global performers in the field of information technology and IT-enabled services. It is a city within a city that is planned to have integrated infrastructural facilities such as offices spaces, production areas, auditoriums, housing for employees, and even shopping complexes. It is a massive site, and looking at it, it really isn’t stretch to think that 25% of computer personnel and services in the United States are from Hyderabad.

The centerpiece of HITEC City is a cylindrical structure 10 stories high, aptly called Cyber Towers. It offers five lakhs (one lakh is equivalent to 100,000) square feet of executive space. The Cyber Towers is home to many IT and ITES companies that currently service globally, including heavyhitters such as Oracle Corporation, GE Capital, Four Soft Limited, and Keane Incorporated. Patni Computer Systems Limited and Prithvi Information Solutions also takes up residence in this tower. The Towers is the first phase of the HITEC project and was inaugurated in November 1998.

Phase 2 of the HITEC City project is known as Cyber Gateway, the companion structure of Cyber Towers, encompassing about 8.5 lakh square feet of space. The name is derived from the giant arch in front of the building that serves as the gateway to the rest of HITEC City. The whole structure has a glass facade, landscaped gardens, and a waiting lounge. The whole place is designed as business process outsourcing models and IT-enabled services; as such, full power connectivity and multiple redundancies in case of emergencies are enabled. Like the Cyber Towers, the corporations housed in the Gateway include giants such as Dell Incorporated, Capitol Records, and software behemoth Microsoft.

HITEC City is still expanding, with more and more global companies opting to settle in due to cheap labor, nice working environments, and competent workers. It will not be surprise if Hyderabad becomes a global powerhouse when it comes to information technology, with HITEC City leading the charge.