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Much Needed Direct U.S.-Hyderabad Flights Would Reflect the Growing Importance of the Indian City of Pearls

Much Needed Direct U.S.-Hyderabad Flights Would Reflect the Growing Importance of the Indian City of Pearls

  • Given the exciting momentum of growth by Hyderabad and the connections between the region and the U.S., itā€™s a pity passengers have to rely on burdensome connections in Europe or the Middle East to get there.

I have deep ties to three Indian cities:
Thiruvananthapuram, where my father lives.
Chennai, where my in-laws live.
Delhi, where I went to college.

But am writing about another city, Hyderabad. Iā€™ve been to this booming city multiple times and its vibe, its culture, its food are all different from its counterparts in India.

I was reading the Knight Frank India Prime City Index (link: https://lnkd.in/eMwpg6t4) and noticed Hyderabad is on top of its listings of the six cities they studied:

Hyderabad
Bengaluru
Mumbai-MMR
Delhi-NCR
Ahmedabad
Chennai

Reasons Hyderabad emerged as the fastest-growing city among the six:

Ā· Strongest real estate market performance

Ā· Diversified economy beyond IT, including pharmaceuticals and manufacturing

Ā· High quality of living and a large concentration of wealthy residents

Ā· Efficient administration and proactive approach to infrastructure projects
The report is just another feather in the cap of Hyderabad and its surrounding region ā€” Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

For Americans more familiar with northern cities or with the other tech-hub of Bangalore, itā€™s time to pay attention. For more than two decades, the ties between the region and the U.S. have been growing.Ā 

A recent study by the American Center for Immigration Studies showed Telugu as the fastest-growing language in the U.S., which has grown by 86% in the last seven years, and as of 2020, Telugu was listed on voter registration and ballot boxes in elections in some states.

Two of the top CEOs in the U.S., Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Shantanu Narayen of Adobe have deep Hyderabad connections.

With its special economic zones and business-friendly policies, Hyderabad presents lucrative opportunities for American investors and entrepreneurs. The city’s strategic location and growing infrastructure make it an ideal gateway to the Indian market.

One of the most important factors in Hyderabadā€™s growth is its robust aviation ecosystem. At the heart of it is the impressive Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, run by GMR Group, one of the worldā€™s top two aviation infrastructure companies.

For Indian Americans, Hyderabad represents a bridge between their cultural history and their American present.

Hyderabad’s rise as a global tech hub, its cultural richness, and its economic potential make it a city that Americans should not overlook. As India continues to play an increasingly important role on the world stage, understanding and engaging with cities like Hyderabad will be crucial for fostering stronger ties between the United States and India.

See Also

Companies big and small are investing in the area. Amazon Web Services has committed to investing $7.2 billion to expand its data center infrastructure in Hyderabad. U.S.-based AHEAD, a cloud and data company opened a major new facility in Hyderabad. Microsoft announced a $1.93 billion investment over 15 years to build India’s largest data center in Hyderabad.

The pharmaceutical industry continues to be a strong point for U.S.-India collaboration, with U.S. pharma giant Eli Lilly establishing a new global capability center in Hyderabad, expected to be operational by mid-2025 and employ more than 1,000 professionals. 

One of the most important factors in Hyderabadā€™s growth is its robust aviation ecosystem. At the heart of it is the impressive Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, run by GMR Group, one of the worldā€™s top two aviation infrastructure companies. Air transport provides significant economic and social benefits. It facilitates tourism, trade, and connectivity, generates economic growth, provides jobs, improves living standards, alleviates poverty, provides a lifeline for remote communities and enables a rapid response when disasters occur.

With a market of $1.6 billion and exports exceeding $500 million, Hyderabad is an important player in the global pharmaceutical industry. Hyderabad also accounts for almost 20 percent of Indiaā€™s total pharmaceutical exports. According to forecasts in the Telangana governmentā€™s Life Sciences industry report, Hyderabad is on track to become a $100 billion business generator by 2030, up from $13 billion in 2020.

Given the exciting momentum of growth by Hyderabad and the connections between the region and the U.S., itā€™s a pity there are no direct flights between the U.S. and Hyderabad. Passengers have to rely on burdensome connections in Europe or the Middle East to get to Hyderabad.

Only pressure and interest by those with cultural, business, and economic ties to the area can convince airlines to add such flights to their routes. Itā€™s high time this happened.


Sreenath ā€œSreeā€ Sreenivasan is CEO of Digimentors, a digital and social consultancy, serves as co-host of the annual Nobel Peace Conference in Oslo, and is the host of the “Sunday NYT Readalong” podcast.Ā 

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The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies ofĀ American Kahani.
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