Status of land now on SMS in Hyd

Hyderabad, Dec. 29: Land buyers can get information on the legal status of the property that they intend to buy in the twin cities over SMS in the new year. The information will be limited to lands within MCH limits. A person seeking information should SMS the survey number(s) of the plot to 94408-15861. He will get the information in a couple of minutes,” Hyderabad joint collector Anil Kumar told this correspondent. The Hyderabad district collectorate has placed the land data and SMS-response software online with the BSNL. The service will give the questioner, information on the land including whether it is government owned, patta land, shikham land, privately owned, owner(s)’s name, the present occupier(s) and size of the land.
Since the SMS can take only 160 characters. a second and third SMS would be sent by the service to provide the complete set of details. Officials are working out the price for the SMS, and would announce it soon. They expect to launch the service as a new year gift to the citizens. “This scheme is being introduced on an experimental basis. Depending upon the success, we will extend it to the rest of the State,” Mr Kumar said. While it is currently on BSNL, “we are planning to tie up with other telecom and mobile service providers,” Mr Kumar said.

Hilton to build 5-star hotel in Hitec City

Hyderabad, Dec. 29: Hilton Hotels, one of the largest hotel chains with over 500 hotels and 1,47,667 rooms worldwide, will be setting up a deluxe property in Hyderabad, the ground-breaking, or bhoomi puja, of which is scheduled to be held in the second week of January. The hotel will have 300 rooms and 100 service apartments, and is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore, sources familiar with the development told this newspaper on Thursday. The State government has allocated 4.33 acres of land adjacent to Shilpakalavedika for the hotel property. “The government has also permitted the hotel project’s promoters to use Shilpaka-lavedika as a conference facility,” the sources said.
Hilton has formed a joint venture company with Progressive Constructions, owned by K.S. Rao, a former Congress MP, and the My Home group, promoted by Dr J. Rameshwar Rao. “Hilton has a 26 per cent stake in the company, while Progressive Constructions and My Home have a 37 per cent stake each. The hotel will be managed by Hilton,” the sources said.
According to the sources, the equity portion of the hotel project is Rs 100 crore, while the debt component is Rs 100 crore. “The promoters have tied up the debt portion through term loans with banks,” the sources said.
Hyderabad has been attracting hotel chains to set up or manage properties. Apart from homegrown chains like the Taj group, which manages three five-star properties through a joint venture, Taj GVK Hotels and Resorts Ltd, and ITC Welcomgroup, which manages the ITC Welcomgroup Kakatiya Sheraton, chains like the Marriott and Radisson are also on the way. Marriott has tied up with the Viceroy Hotel and Convention Centre, while the Radisson is reported to have reached an agreement with The Manohar, and is to rebranded as Radisson Hotel Manohar.
The Dubai-based Emaar Properties, a real estate development company, which has built the first convention centre, the Cyberabad Convention Center, in Hyderabad, has awarded the contract to build a 300-room hotel to Novotel, a luxury hotel brand owned by Accor, a French hotel chain, which manages 3,973 hotels with 4,63,427 rooms worldwide. One of the reasons for the increased activity in the hospitality industry in Hyderabad is because of the growth in the IT industry.

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