After a tremendous feat in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Delhi – FIRST CONSTRUCTION COUNCIL with CONSTRUCTION WORLD made successful inroads to Hyderabad and organised the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Design-Build Conclave & Awards. Held on June 10 at Hotel Hyatt Gachibowli Hyderabad, the event catered to the who’s who of the design and build industry – real estate builders and developers, architectural firms, design firms, government and industry. The event was graced by Guest of Honour and Padma Shri BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder Chairman & Board Member, CYIENT, and he was also felicitated for his contributions to Telangana. While thanking CONSTRUCTION WORLD, he stated, “The IT sector and innovation hubs are the way to go to grow Hyderabad into an economic powerhouse.” Vidyadhar Rao, Director of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), Government of Telangana, and Secretary RERA, presented the awards to architects and builders. While this set the perfect tone for the event, Pratap Padode, Founder, FIRST Construction Council, presenting facts and figures on real estate scenario in Hyderabad informed that, “Hyderabad has the highest share in demand and supply among all south Indian cities and sales have crossed pre-pandemic levels by 20 per cent.” JVS Ramakrishna, Business Leader - Smart Cities & Smart Utilities, L&T, delivered the Keynote Address on his perspective on the ‘Current Scenario of the Real Estate Sector’. Further, addressing the ‘Impact of Metro on the Real Estate Market in Hyderabad’ was P Ravi Shankar, Vice President & Head of Transit Oriented Development, Project Control & Contracts – L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), in his Keynote. Deliberating on the need of rethinking and improving architectural methodology in the pursuit of better work was the panel discussion on ‘Rethinking Architectural Methodology’. Moderated by Ajay Kumar, Senior Executive Director, CBRE – the speakers discussed the current design practices and how lean architecture is the key for design-build success in India. The eminent panel included Ar Ramakrishna Shenoy, Principal Architect, Arkade Sign Studio; Ar Rupam Dey, Director, SEP Architects; Ar Rajeev Kumar Sharma, Managing Director, Designhaaus; and Ar Raj Amudula, Principal Architect, Raj Architects. This was followed by a highly interactive panel discussion on ‘Builders Connect: Real Estate Market in Hyderabad Set to Boom’. Moderated by Sreekanth Reddy, Sr Director, Cushman & Wakefield, the speakers conversed on best practices for design-build procurement, contracts, and project delivery in India – specially in Hyderabad. Eminent speakers included B Sunil Chandra Reddy, President, NAREDCO – Telangana Real Estate Developers Association; Nanda Kishore M, Managing Director, Ramky Estates & Farms; SP Reddy, Chairman & Managing Director, Terminus Group; Shivani Reddy, Managing Partner, Rami Reddy Constructions; and Shahab Naqvi, B2B & B2G Head, Panasonic. B Sunil Chandra Reddy let the cat among the pigeons when he raised the hotly debated topic of FSI in Hyderabad. While Sreekanth Reddy asked the Hyderabad builders how they visualised the growth of real estate in Hyderabad, Reddy recounted that the Minister of Urban Development KT Rama Rao has exhorted builders and developers not to compare Hyderabad with other cities in India but with the top 25 cities in the world, as he aims to belong to that prestigious club of cities. In India, Hyderabad is the only city which has FSI anywhere between 9 and 13, with an average hovering in the range of 6 to 7, whereas the national average ranges between 2 and 2.5. While developers like Nanda Kishore from Ramky Estates, seemed bullish about the prospects of making Hyderabad among the top Alpha cities of the world, architects Ramakrishna Shenoy and Rajeev Sharma expressed concerns on sustainability. SP Reddy from Terminus Group, equated Hyderabad’s offerings to those among the cities in the US and also lauded the government's delivery in support services. The event also witnessed independent Partner Presentations by Dheerendra Srivastava, Head (AF star), MS Agarwal Foundries; Sudhir Namboodiri, Specification Manager-South India, Bostik India; and Dinesh Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, Panasonic Life Solutions. As part of his presentation, Aggarwal offered, “We would like to build smart cities on the lines we have built in Japan’s Fujisawa along the various corridors and expressways that are being built to connect cities and populous areas with our technological life solution products.” The event concluded with the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Design-Build Awards that recognised the “Stalwarts of the South – Hyderabad”. The awards brought together Architects, Builders and Contractors to a common platform to recognise their noteworthy achievements. The evening was also graced by Surat Singh Malhotra, Honorary Consul, Honorary Consulate of the Kingdom of Lesotho. Suresh Chukkapalli, Honorary Consul, Republic of South Korea was also felicitated as Founder Chairman of Phoenix Group. Vidyadhar Rao, Director of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), Government of Telangana, and Secretary RERA, who presented the awards to architects and builders. emphasised on the various initiatives taken by them to promote Hyderabad, which follows an unlimited FSI since the past 15 years, where developers can construct as per their choice. Referring to SP Reddy’s appreciation on the state government’s delivery in support services, he added that the government is coordinating the preparation of about 30 to 35 master plans, which have already been completed and are awaiting state clearance. The Winners of Stalwarts of the South – Hyderabad (Alphabetically listed and in no order of ranking) Aparna Constructions and Estates Arkade Sign Studio BSCPL Infrastructure DesignHaaus F+S Designs FHD India Consultants Genesis Planners Phoenix Group Rami Reddy Contructions Ramky Estate & Farms SEP Architects The CONSTRUCTION WORLD Design & Build Conclave and Awards was Powered by Panasonic, with the Conclave Partner being MS Agarwal Foundries, Co-Partnered by Bostik India; Associate Partner - TATA Pravesh & MYK Arment; Luxury Partner – Mersedez Silver Star; Knowledge Partner – REA INDIA - Housing.com; Association Partner – NAREDCO – Telangana Real Estate Developers Association, Builders Associatioan of India – Telangana, and Teleangana Realtors Association.