Workshop Held to Draft Unified Development and Building Code

Quick Summary

• The Hyderabad Metropolitan Growth Authority (HMDA) organized a stakeholder consultation workshop in collaboration with Ernst & Young (EY) to draft a unified development and building code.
• EY conducted a comprehensive policy review comparing Telangana’s policies with best practices nationally and internationally.
• HMDA Commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmed emphasized the goal of creating a sustainable, transparent, and flexible code that supports ease of doing business.
• GHMC Commissioner R.V.Karnan highlighted improved regulatory simplification, while A.V. Ranganath from Hyderabad Disaster response stressed provisions for buildings near drains and water bodies.
• Private stakeholders like CREDAI, NAREDCO, ITPI sought developer-amiable regulations by eliminating certain mandatory requirements for commercial and public utilities spaces.
• Representatives from municipal bodies, utility boards such as the Hyderabad Water Supply Board, rural development agencies, Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, and urban planning departments were present at the session.

Indian Opinion Analysis
The move toward formulating a unified development and building code reflects proactive governance in Telangana’s urban planning sector. By benchmarking against national and international practices through EY’s analysis, this initiative indicates an effort to integrate global standards with local needs. Prioritizing sustainability alongside ‘ease of doing business’ is especially noteworthy in it’s potential to balance environmental concerns with economic growth ambitions.

A diverse range of stakeholders-from government authorities to private developers-participated in the consultation process. While this inclusiveness enhances legitimacy by accommodating varied interests such as transparency for industries or flexibility in land use norms for developers, reconciling conflicting priorities will be challenging during implementation stages.

This initiative could set notable precedents if successfully executed; however, care must be taken to ensure loopholes are not created under stakeholder demands like reduced public utility requirements that could inadvertently harm urban infrastructure or livability indices.

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