The reason beahind writing this post is this: I got recruited into Oracle through my campus placements. And I got to know that I will be posted in hyderabad within a month.  The offer letter said that I am supposed to report to Hitec city by June 29th 09. And I was curious to know whats so HIGH-TECH about this place. So I Googled to find the wikipedia entry and a couple of blogs. But that did not quench my thirst. So I decided to fill in this gap and write a detailed post. Here it comes , the hitchhikers guide to hitec city…

HITEC stands for Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City. It is “the” technology hub of Hyderabad… situated about 15 – 20 kms from the main Hyderabad city.
Let me be frank, in the first month I stayed here, I couldn’t figure out how to spell the name of this city. Some call it Hightech and others use hitech. And you will find different anagrams of it on the hoardings. But the guys at the post office have no issues whatsoever in whatever spelling you choose to put in the postal address.

Accomodation :

If you are looking for a place near Hightec city there are 2 choices you can consider.

1. Either stay in Madhapur which is closer to the Hyderabad city but has lesser number of flats available for rent

2. Look out for a rented flat in Kondapur which is farther from Hyderabad city but is a total residential area and has better choice of rented flats available.

Hitec city residential areas

I would recommend you choose Kondapur because in Madhapur the traffic is unmanageable during the peak hours as most people who work in Hitec city stay near Ameerpeet and they have to pass through Madhapur to reach home. But Madhapur has its own advantages. It has its own HighTech AC Movie Theatre. It has many of the international brands like Levis,Woodland,Reebok Adidas,Dominoes, Baskin Robbins and a long list of good restaurants closeby. Banjara hills is also closer to Madhapur and you can find some of the best restaurants in Hyderabad situated there. Whereas Kondapur is more preferable if you want to have a wide variety of residential flats at affordable prices.

Whitefields near Kondapur is the closest residential area to the higtec city offices. There is a short route which takes you directly to Hitec city without even touching the main road. The prices of flats in whitefields are high compared to Kondapur. And most of the landlords refuse to give rooms to Bachelors

Shilpa park is a newly developed area where there are a few flats. Again the prices are slightly high compared to Kondapur and you have to come to Kondapur for the basic amenities. (There is a ‘more’ store right in Shilpa park and a lot of small ‘Kirana’ stores have come up there)

Kondapur is the best place to reside in terms of cost and the facilites you get. There is a apsrtc bus stand in Kondapur and every 10 minutes, there is a bus to Koti (No.127k) or to Secunderabad (10H). There is a Reliance fresh store where you can get groceries and everyday use stuff.. They do accept Sodexo coupons/cards instead of cash for food products which will help you increase your tax savings(you tend to care a lot about tax savings during the initial days). There are a few small restaurants like Hot rottis,Occasions, drum sticks, Samrat darshini closeby. You can also find few bars like Club 8, Rooftop garden in Kondapur. There are 2 wheeler service centers for Hero Honda, Bajaj,TVS and Honda distributed throughout Kondapur. Also Toyota has a big showroom here and lately Chevrolet, MarutiSuzuki and Tata have setup their counterparts as well. Kondapur also houses a few clinics and medical stores. You will find a bunch of general stores (called KIRANA stores) where you can literally buy anything under the sun. You can find a handful of Mobile phone recharge/accessory retail outlets.

Conveyance:

If you reside near Hitec and you dont own a vehicle, then the best way to travel everyday to office is by shared-auto rickshaws. During peak hours, you can find a lot of auto-rickshaws plying to Cyber towers charging less than 7 Rs per head(in fact, 7 rs per arse, as your head is usually hanging out). The drivers are smart enough to optimize the space inside to fit in exactly 7 passengers of any size , gender and skilled enough to avoid the traffic cops who wait to tear a traffic ticket slip (which they know for sure is their payslip for black money) wearing raincoats to hide their white uniforms , jumping out of the blue to catch hold of these mini scientist auto drivers performing structural stress test of their autorickshaws right on the main roads.

Chill outs:

If you want to have some fun during weekends you could visit the Ramoji film city (some 50 kms) Hussain Sagar lake ( 15kms) , Lumbini park (beside the lake), Prasadz IMAX theatre (India’s only IMAX ?) (close to the lake), Snow World ( 20 kms), Golconda fort ( 15 kms – towards Gachibowli) etc. An Auto to reach IMAX/HussainSagar will go through Madhapur-Jubilee checkpost-Cinemax-Brandfactory-Central-Khairatabad and will charge around 100Rs.

• Ramoji film city (spend a day) – Fun rides, restaurants, city tour. Learn how movies are made, movie sets etc. If you are lucky, you mind get a chance to meet some tollywood/kollywood artists (definitely not on weekends). I had read somewhere that some scenes in the upcoming movie 200 crore budget movie Endhiran were shot here.
• Hussain Sagar lake ( you could spend 2-3 hours) – Boating , visit to Buddha Statue.
• Lumbini Park (2-3 hours) – 3D Laser show at 7pm
• Prasadz IMAX – you can catch up the 3d Underwater movie or watch a regular hollywood movie on a gigantic screen. . Also visit Eat Street (mcd,pizzahut,frankies n a lot more)on the necklace road nearby(1 km from Prasadz)
• Snow world – (5-6 hours) – Artifical snowfall , artificial rock climbing, the room with mirrors everywhere, a not-so-scary artificial dungeon etc.
• Golconda fort – (4-5 hours) – climb up the fort, watch the light and sound show about the history of Golconda kingdom.
• Charminar 2 hrs – Very crowded area. Till 5pm, you are allowed to climb up the stairs inside charminar. A good place to buy hyderabadi pearls and artificial ornaments.)
• GVK Mall – Movie theatre, 4D theatre, a beautiful aquarium at the center, Shopperstop, Reebok/adidas/puma etc
• Inorbit mall – the biggest mall in hyderabad – hypercity, shopperstop, lifestyle, apple istore(newly opened in 1st floor) homecenter, puma, adidas, nike, food court – with mcdonalds/frankies/creamstone, CCD (dont miss the good view of durgam cheruvu (secret lake) from the lawn just outside CCD). Also has a car spa in the basement.. get your car cleaned when you shop at inorbit :). Inorbit is around 3-4 Kms from Kondapur, auto drivers will charge around 40 Rs from Kondapur
• Other malls like Central, City center, Big bazaar(with Big cinemas), brand factory, and also try out SVM mall – where u cud enjoy bowling
• Nehru zoological park – 20 kms from Kondapur, auto fare 150 -175 Rs. The zoo is crowded during weekends. If you own a car, you can take it inside the zoo. Main attractions : White tiger, Leopard, Puma, Lions, Giraffe, Deers, Elephants, White peacocks etc. Dont forget to carry enough food and water inside as the number of stalls inside is limited. Camera charge – Rs 20 for all types (unlike Rs 500 which is mentioned on their website)
• You can also visit the campuses near Gachibowli (4 kms) like IIIT campus, ISB campus, Microsoft campus, Wipro etc. There is a big Financial district with a lot of finance companies coming up there. There is also a huge stadium close to IIIT.
• You could also visit ICRISAT (a lil distance from Gachibowli). It is a good place to stay overnight and to catch the early sunrise. ICRISAT is a crop research institute. So you will get to see the various methods they use to grow different crops and the way they spray water/pesticides. It is UN sponsored programme  (all the vehicles have a number plate which reads “UN” instead of “AP”)

Weather

The weather right now is pretty good. It varies between 17 – 32 degree celsius between June to Dec. Nights are really cold during winter. The summer season is supposedly unbearable.  I havent personally experienced it, but people recommend that you buy atleast an air cooler if not a conditioner.

Update: Its april 4th ’10 and the heat has become unbearable. Gonna buy a air cooler today. My choices symphony air coolers, bajaj, kenstar available at Croma, Reliance digital, Big bazaar.The branded ones are in the range of Rs 5k(20 ltrs) – 8k(40ltrs). You could also buy unbranded ones for as low as Rs.1500(20 ltrs) , 2300(40 ltrs) at Madhapur.

Update 2: Its June 30th ’10 today. I had bought a symphony H! cool air cooler 2 months ago from Croma, Madhapur for 5000Rs and the cooling water pump had stopped working after a month. So I had called up the symphony service center ( Hyderabad contact : Mr Kiran, Ph 934620257) and they never turned up. But all of a sudden today (after 20 days of the complaint), he came to my house at kondapur and has fixed the cooler. He told me that there are very few authorized repairers in hyderabad who have to cater a huge list of complaints from all over hyderabad. He fixed it within 10 minutes and told me that the ground water in hyderabad has alot of calcium content which lead to hevay deposits inside the cooler tank. In my case too, this was the problem. The water pump had got blocked by these deposits. He adviced me to drain out the water whenever it was being  unused for long period of time.

Cost of living

The cost of living in Kondapur isnt as over inflated as some of the areas in bangalore. The approximate rent of a 2 BHK unfurnished flat is around 10 K Rs. Although you could get small flats for 7-8 K. If you are lucky, you can get  3 BHK furnished for 15 K and sometimes a 5 BHK unfurnished flat for 20 K. The annual increment on the rent is around 5-10%. Usually people catch hold of brokers who charge 50% of the first month rent as brokerage fees. You could also get cheap working-mens hostel, although I would not recommend anyone to go for it.

When you are considering a flat, enquire for the right split up of Maintenance charges , monthly rent, annual deposit, annual increment in the rent, agreement period ( usually 11 months), availability of separate electricity meter, generator backup etc. Demand for the immediate signing up of the rental agreement as a precaution. ( The rental agreement usually states the time period for which the rent remains constant.. usually 11 months and the exact splitup of the charges.)

In Kondapur , a standard North Indian Thali would cost anywhere between 45 Rs – 60 Rs. South Indian meal would cost you between 30-50 Rs. If you stay in Kondapur and are lazy to walk upto the restaurant, you could get a free home delivery from the restaurant called Occasions (Paite pooja ho jaye) if you order food stuff worth atleast 150 Rs (2 thalis + a lassi) by calling them on 040-65194444.

Some quick tips

1.You can get Hathway TV cable for your TV( 200rs monthly). If you want a lot of channels esp the sports channels like ESPN, Start sports, then you need to buy a decoder set top box from Koti(1200 Rs Cisco brand) which will let you watch any channel without any extra price. The signal quality is as good as the ones on Tata Sky and the decoder lets you view EPG programme guides too . If you dont have a set top box, the picture quality will be bad and the total channel count will be lesser.
2. You can pay your electricity bills online through eseva.com
3. You can get aquafina mineral water cans home delivered (Rs 70 per 25 ltrs) from any nearby ‘Kirana store’. Local branded cans are available for 30 rs per 20 ltrs.
4. For internet connections, there are a lot of local ISPs offering good services (Beam cable – 8mbps @ 1000 Rs/month .. although have heard a lot of bad reviews about beam. Beam is supposedly the best choice if you are staying at Malaysian Township , Tikona networks have wifi coverage throughout kondapur – 2mbps @ 600… I get full wifi signal on 4th floor too.), but I have opted for Airtel Broadband fixed line with 1mbps UL for 1699Rs/month which is very reliable(Fairusage limit of 100Gb afterwhich speed reduces to 512kbps). Now airtel doesnt offer good plans for new customers, some kind of TRAI orders have forced them to change their slabs.
5. AFAIK,There are 2 ATMs in Kondapur Andhra bank ATM and SBI bank ATM. There’s one more ICICI atm on the way to Cyber towers.
6. If you goto Reliance fresh @ kondapur very frequently, apply for their membership card(200 rs for permanent card, temporary ones for 6months are free). They have free gifts/discounts for regular customers.
7. You can get small LPG cylinders for arnd 200 Rs which will last for a month on average cooking load.

Contact numbers

Sunny cable – Hathway cable operator for  Kondapur – 9963006499

Mr Prahlad, our cook who makes excellent north indian dishes  (only serves kondapur,hafeezpet, whitefields)- +917893283641.

Occassions – Paite pooja ho jaye restaurant at Kondapur (opposite to Sony showroom) (free home delivery for bills more than 150Rs) – 04065194444

Subway kothaguda-madhapur road , near ICICI bank – Free home delivery for orders above 150 Rs – 04064507999, 9989647646

Locksmith at kondapur (stays opposite to toyota showroom) , contact him if you need duplicate keys (in case you get locked out of your house) – 9399915867

Authorized Air cooler service guy for symphony coolers – Mr Kiran – 9346202507 (always busy )

Nearest McDonalds outlet – Inorbit mall – 0406600666 (Recently stopped delivery services to Kondapur)

Some Call taxis – Dotcabs(04024242424) , Greencab(04024606060), Meru (44224422)

New Airtel boradband connection – Mr Rajkumar – 9989011856

Birthday cakes home delivery – Kakes’ n krisps – 9849872668, The Chocolate room,madhapur (no delivery but awesoem cakes) – 040 64589595

Nearest emergency hospital – Image hospital, Madhapur – Arnd 2 kms from Kondapur (900023377,04044669999)

LPG gas home delivery 9652009647

Rent O Rent, Madhapur – TV, Refrigerator, washing machine, cooler etc on Rent – 04066845700,9440877692

Other useful details I found online

1st July 2010 : There is a lady cook available for Madhapur area. Rajlakshmi She can cook both north indian and south indian food and can speak fluently in Hindi and Telugu. She cooks good food and most importantly prefers hygiene. She would be available in the evening time and is interested in taking up few more places as well in areas close to Madhapur P.S. / ginger court. For charges and other details you can get in touch with her directly. She doesnot have her own no. so you can cell her after 8.00 pm on her husband’s no : 9441226020

1st July 2010 :
Cook and maid available at Kondapur (she prefers Silpa Park). She cooks decent North Indian food. You can reach her directly @ 9652191376. 1st July 2010 :
A 2BHK Luxurious apartment is available for rent starting end of July.

Name of apartment is Luxor park. (Flat no. B2) in Miyapur. It is around 8.5 KM from Hitec city on Bombay highway. Flat No B6 (II Floor) Luxor Park , Madhapuri Township , Near PJR Enclave, Icrisat Colony, (Chandanagar) Hyderabad-500050

1st July 2010 :
2BHK available for rent. Parking available. Location: 105,Dharni Residency, Shilpa park, Kondapur Rent: 12000(Negotiable) Monthly Maintanence Charge :-850/- Availabilty: From 15st July. Contact: 9885056077 for details.

1st July 2010 :
I have a brand new 3 BHK furnished flat is for rent in in Nadella Residency – Kondapur. Details: – Ready to occupy – 3BHK flat 1350 Sq.ft for rent at Kondapur. – 100% Vaastu, West – Facing – 3 spacious Bedrooms with attached bathrooms. – 24 hours of Water availability. – Well Lit. – Cupboards and wardrobes already provided in all the rooms and Kitchen – Fitted with Lights and Fans in all the rooms – Flat is in the First floor (ensures appropriate temperature in the Summer also) – Parking Facility available.(for both 2 and 4 Wheeler) – About 3.5 KM from Hitec City. Near the RTA Office Kondapur / very close to GEM Maruti Service Station. Please contact me for any details, Sharath R 9959000977 98492 47374

July 1st 2010:
2BHK with wood work available for rent.
Parking available and 24/7 manjeera water.Location: Chandanagar, Near BSNL office.Rent: 6500.Availabilty: From 1st July.Contact: 9849966547/9441886161 for details.

July 2nd, 2010 :
Flat is very close to Needs Dhaba and St Francis College. Its a 2 BHK with
woodwork in both rooms. Balcony with grills. 2nd Floor in a completely
residential building. Mosaic flooring. No Water issues. Godavari
Apartments, Uma Nagar, Methodist Colony. Begumpet. House is ready for
occupation.. Rent is 9,500. Contact 9618077698..

July 2nd 2010:
Shared Accomodation is available for 1 Guy in shilpa emerald, shilpa park kondapur. its a 3-bhk with 3 washrooms, currently we are 2 guys staying. total rent is 16k+ 1k maintenance. maid charges 3k(dinner on weekdays,lunch + dinner on weekends, cleaning and cloth washing). if interested in joining,can contact Jitender-9963687037 Saurabh -996370006

July 2nd 2010
There is a vacant room in a 3-BHK flat in Shilpa Park Layout, Kondapur, for which we are looking out for 1 female inmate. Requirement basis – 1 female flat mate, single occupancy Occupancy – Immediate Landmark – Near to More Shopping Center and Novotel hotel Address – Shilpa Park Layout, Kondapur, 1 km from Kothaguda junction Floor – 3rd (there are 5 floors in the apartment) Rent – 4700/- for the room Maintenance, Cleaning Maid, electricity etc – 1100/- per person Security Deposit – 10000/- per person Specifications on arrangements in the flat for prospective inmate – 1. Fridge available 2. The vacant room has an attached bathroom (Indian style) with geyser 3. Semi-furnished with 2 wall-length wardrobes and full length mirror in the room. 4. Cupboards in the living room and dining area 5. Kitchen setup with stove and essentials 6. Maid employed for cleaning 7. Shared Autos available to Hitech/Kothaguda from the main road 8. Apartment in secured and peaceful locality 9. Owner is non-interfering Call at the following numbers if you want to take a look at the flat – 9989312005 9885471851

July 3rd 2010
Newly constructed apartments: 2BHK , Lift(uc) + car parking, available to move-in immediately. Flats available in floors 1 to 5, Near ayyappa society, madhapur, less than 1.5 km from Hi-tech city. rent=Rs 10,000/- +800 maintenance,

If interested then email to [email protected] with your phone number for further details.

*rental discount available for first 4 bookings.

July 6th 2010
ONE BHK for sale One BR, hall, kichen, toilet, portico,seperate car parking, Lappam Finish, False Roofing, focus lights, seperate entrance,Grills for safety, just 6 kms from High tech city, Best for computer professionals, Seperate water tank, beautiful elevation from top floor, two slabs to reduce heat etc * Location: Miyapur * Area: 640 Sq Feet * Transaction Type: Resale * Furnished: Furnished * Price: Rs. 13.50 Lakh * Bedrooms: 1 BHK * Society/Building name: Krishna Sai Apartments * Property Age: Less than 5 Years * Floor No: 5 If anyone is interested for Rent : Please find the details. Rent 5300 + 500 maintenance + 3 months advance. Interested parties can call on 9949522677

July 8th 2010
My friend Sudhakar apartment is available for rent from Aug1st 2010, Please let me know if anyone of your friend(s) are looking for it. Plot#26, Near Hi-rise pride colony, Phase I Rukmuni residency Apt # 206 Nizampet village, hyd-72 Apt area – 1145 Sft. (Furnished – cupboard work) 2BHK with Car Parking. Expected Rent – 6800+ Can reach Sudhakar on mobile # 99894 24146 or email : [email protected] Regards, Nagesh

Oct 28th 2010

Below flat is available for rent,

Location:3 Bedroom Flat

Panchavati Apts

Flat No :6203

Pragathi Nagar

Kukatpally

Distance from Oracle Campus  is 7 KM.

Wood work done in all the bedrooms, cupboards in kitchen, Fans/tube lights in all the rooms.

1 Car Parking space & Lift available.

Also, all amenities close-by(More supermarket, Banks,Bus & Auto facilitity to reach HiTech City etc.)

To see the house you can call me at 9000988077(This flat is available from 20th Nov’10)

Rent : 7000 + (Maintenance)

—

2BHK penthouse Available in madhapur with following amenities :

1. Double Bed

2. A/C

3, Refrigerator (not sure if it’s still there ,check with landlord)

Please contact landlord ‘Hanumanta’(9392494967) quoting my name as reference.

Thanks

Gaurav

—

2 BHK available for rent from November 3rd ,2010 – KPHB 6th Phase, 5Kms from Cyber Towers

This house is still available from November 3rd, for negotiations you can call Apparao Chowdry(Care taker of this house) @ 9482677304 or 8019126165.

To see the house you can call me at 9949497915.

Regards,

Arun

—

Posting on behalf of my friend. Please contact:Srinivas @ 9391012442

======================================================

2BHK(1200 SFT) Flat is ready to occupy from 01-NOV-2010

Pristine Place,SriBalaji Constructions.

-Block 7/105

-Fully furnished.

-Near Gajularamaram

-Landmark:USHA Mullapudi Heart Hospital

-4KM from KPHB and 10.5 KM from Cyber Towers

-Snooker,TT,Gym,Super market and Pre school.

-Treated ground water is for Free

-Close to Auto and Bus stand.

-Club house and swimming pool is under construction.

-Most of the flats are occupied by Infosys/Oracle employees.

—

Hi,

A North Indian cook for Kondapur-Hafeezpet area is available. He might also be able to service in Gachibowli area.

Plz.  contact him directly at:

9652482281

Name : Indal

Thanks

Waseem

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