Hyderabad’s City of Pearls moniker now shares billing with “Cyberabad,” as its regal past meets an ambitious, tech-driven future. In the Old City, the Charminar’s silhouette still anchors Laad Bazaar’s jewelry stalls (which fuel the #20 Shopping ranking), while Golconda Fort and Mecca Masjid keep the Nizam’s grandeur – and #2 Sights & Landmarks ranking – alive.
The skyline around HITEC City gained new prominence with Microsoft’s expanded India Development Center, and Google’s three- million-square-foot campus opens in 2026. Both are among the firm’s largest facilities outside the U.S. Amazon now has 1.6 million square feet of office and tech space in the city, while the T-Hub 2.0 innovation campus is hosting more than 800 start-ups. The 19,000-acre Pharma City – touted as the world’s largest life-sciences manufacturing cluster – will begin phased operations in 2025. Genome Valley is home to both 200 biotech and pharma companies from 18 countries and six of the world’s Top 10 R&D companies. An impressive #36 ranking for Large Companies will only rise: FDI dollars in the back half of 2024 added up to nearly $2.7 billion in Telangana state. And Hyderabad already produces one-third of the world’s vaccines.