This story is from August 29, 2015

No headway in ITIR project

The much hyped Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) project approved by the Centre has not made any headway even two years after it was announced.
No headway in ITIR project
HYDERABAD: The much hyped Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) project approved by the Centre has not made any headway even two years after it was announced. Though the ambitious project was proposed with several thousands of crores of rupees with expectations of attracting investments worth several lakhs of crores of rupees in the next two and half decades, no money has been spent either by the Centre or the state government on the project so far.

The Centre has sanctioned only Rs 165 crore for improvement of transportation in the ITIR regions. Even that amount has not been spent by the Government of India. The state government is still grappling with preparation of master plan for the ITIR sectors. Now the doubts are being raised on funding for smart cities--Hyderabad and Warangal--announced by the Centre on Thursday.
ITIR project was approved for Hyderabad by the Centre in November 2013 in an area of 202 sq kms. It was proposed to develop IT and ITES projects in five zones spreading across the city.
After Telangana came into existence, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) asked all the civic and infrastructure departments such as GHMC, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) and Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSPDCL) to identify the areas and prepare estimates for infrastructure improvement in the ITIR regions.
To begin with, the state government estimated about Rs 15,000 crore would be required for development of roads, sewerage, water supply, solid waste and electricity in these regions.
"But the Centre has agreed to provide support totaling over Rs 3,275 crore, primarily for better connectivity to the ITIR zones. Of the amount, only Rs 85 crore were sanctioned for Multi-Modal Transportation System (MMTS) from Falaknuma to Shamshabad and another Rs 80 crore for taking up a radial road from Moosapet to BHEL. These amounts were to be spent through the respective central government departments - railways (for MMTS)

and ministry of road transport and highways department(radial roads)
. Another Rs 3,000 crore was promised for metro rail connectivity from Falaknuma to Shamshabad in future with a condition that there should be demand (ridership) for the route," a senior official of Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITE&C) of Telangana told TOI.
When it comes to state government, it was supposed to spend about Rs 13,000 crore for the ITIR project in the next 25 years project period. The state government had asked HMDA to prepare master plan for ITIR by integrating with other master plan. The government earmarked Rs 90 crore in the 2014-15 budget for the project. Like the Centre, the state government too did not spend this amount.
"There are several anomalies in the existing master plan which needs to be attended before finalizing the master plan. The state government has not been giving clarifications on certain issues like land usage," a planning officer of HMDA said.
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