16 March 2008 marks a remarkable date on which the landscape and life of Hyderabad (my hometown) is changed forever. It has been a much awaited landmark that many people were looking forward for, whether they approved it or disapproved it for their respective reasons, theories and forecasts.
Albeit all the pompous promotions, theories that said Hyderabad is seeing and will continue to see unprecedented growth, boom, enhancement of image both to localites and for people otherwise...the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport a.k.a Shamshabad Airport, has raised quite a few brows as to how it will impact fellow Hyderabadis.
On an average, for the Hyderabad folks to either use the airport or otherwise, the total impact of having the airport in the so called "greater" area is about 270 INR per month. Thats pretty much what you have to pay, to be a part of Hyderabad. period. Might not seem to high, but thats quite a solid impact to the low-income-group and labor workers who work on daily wages, etc.
Nevertheless, the airport is supposed to be yet another medium to put Hyd on the map. If HiTec City, Fab City, Silicon Valley and Blue Chip companies, etc don't do that job already ! Thanks to these and many more feathers on its cap, Hyderabad has seen unprecedented real estate boom in the past few years. Its tougher to land a deal in Hyd for an apartment or piece of land than to buy a 4 bedroom house in many states in the US.
Again thanks to the tons of NRIs (like me) who are significant contributors to this boom...a ripple effect that seems to have no ending. Its quite next to impossible for a commoner to live in Hyderabad anymore. Booming callcenters, BPOs, BDMs shuttling back and forth between Hyd and the rest of the world...people's spirit and enthusiasm is no boundaries and the growth is at a rate as if there is no tomorrow !
The Shamshabad Airport (as its affectionately called) itself in its making has resulted in some invaluable partnerships between the Govt, GMR Construction Conglomerate, Malaysian Airport Holding Berhad, to say the least.
If not others, All the major Outsourcing Giants Wipro, TCS, CSC, HCL, Accenture, IBM, Delloite, Infosys, etc... to say the least, will have a ball shuttling around their Engagement Whizkids and Development Managers all around the globe in the coming months to bag those high profile global clientel' et al.
On the flip side, there are many a focused-groups that are actually worried about the repercussions of losing the Begumpet Airport, strategically located in the heartland of Hyderabad. Its a commuters paradise, which people will lose pretty soon. Now the million dollar (in fact valued much more) question is, if the Begumpet airport is decommissioned, what will the govt do with that land ?
If you are thinking on the lines of some goofy shady deals that politics usually result in, you are not the only savvy one out there. Someone will reap the money out of the roof for centuries to come by, on something of a mammoth deal(s) like that.
Nevertheless...fellow Hyderabadis and Travellers from all around the globe to the Intellectual Hub of India...congratulations on this achievement. Our lives probably will not be the same anymore !
