Hyderabad: After claiming the title of India’s most livable city for six consecutive years, Hyderabad has been rated as the fastest growing city in India. The state capital of Telangana has outshone cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad and Chennai, in terms of infrastructural growth on socio-economic front, according to a report recently published by the Knight Frank India.
According to the report, ‘India Prime City Index Report’, robust infrastructure, accelerated growth in its real estate sector, burgeoning population of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs) and high net worth individuals (HNIs), as well as the proactive policy initiatives of the state govt have propelled the city to emerge as the fasted growing city in the country.
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The study of various prominent cities was conducted on four key parameters – socio-economics, real estate, physical infrastructure, and governance. While socio-economics considered factors such as ease of living, income and employment, and health and education, the real estate parameter took into account launches, sales prices, and investments.
The report assessed the physical infrastructure based on network coverages and traffic environment, while governance looked at factors such as accessibility, accountability, and transparency.
As per the Knight Frank India report, Hyderabad scored the highest among all cities in terms of real estate growth in the country and ranked a consistent second on all the other parameters, courtesy the fast-paced growth in various economic activities and the socio-economic environment.
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“Hyderabad outperforms other cities driven by its robust growth across various socio-economic parameters and strategic positioning in key sectors. The city’s diversified economy, encompassing sectors beyond IT such as pharma and manufacturing, has bolstered its stability and growth prospects,” the report said.
The report highlighted Hyderabad’s relative strength in its real estate market, stating that annual sales of residential property rose by 6% in 2023, driven by homebuyers’ penchant for lifestyle upgrades and a preference for amenity-rich communities in well-established areas.
“The demand for housing is further stimulated by the city’s robust and well-planned network of roads, flyovers, underpasses, and wide ring roads. The state government has also invested strategically in key infrastructure projects such as metro rail, ring roads, among others,” the report added.
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Apart from the quality of living and robust growth in the real estate sector, the city also possessed tremendous opportunities of growth in education and health, foreign investments and warehousing sector. It also cited the Mercer surveys as well as the 2024 Hurun rich list for ranking Hyderabad in the numero uno spot. “The city has been notable for its efficient administration and proactive approach to implementing infrastructure projects and urban development plans,” the report mentioned.
Transformation in the governance has brought in transparency in operations, which helped the city draw investments thanks to substantial improvement in ease of doing business and thereby catapulted Hyderabad as the most favoured destinations for investments.
Ranked second by the report, India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, topped in socio-economics thanks to its robust service sector that has become a magnet for attracting talent from India and abroad but lost out on physical infrastructure and governance and a lower PCI of $6,767.
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The report further enumerated in-migration, talent pool, and healthy real estate as Bengaluru strengths and stock market investments, infrastructure, and governance as opportunities. India’s financial capital, Mumbai, had foreign investments, real estate, and UHNIs and HNIs listed as its biggest strengths by the report, with health facilities, quality of life, and governance as opportunities. It fared an average third on socio-economics, real estate, and physical infrastructure and a poor fourth on governance. The capital city of Delhi NCR ranked top in the country in terms of physical infrastructure and governance but lost out in socio-economics and real estate parameters.
