2.37 km Formula-E racing track overlooking Hussain Sagar to come up in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A 2.37-km racing track will be set up near the Secretariat and Telugu Tally Flyover overlooking the Hussain Sagar for the 9th season of Formula-E World Championship. Telangana signed a Letter of Intent ( LoI) with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and renewable energy company Greenko Group on 17 January to be a candidate for host city for the championship.

The official confirmation as host city will come in 90 days, said the FIA Chief Championship Officer (CCO), Alberto Longo. With that Hyderabad will become the first Indian city to host the Formula-E World Championship and will join the league of cities like Rome, New York, London, and Monaco.

The inaugural championship of Formula-E Racing was held in Beijing. Unlike Formula 1 where cars are powered by fossil fuel, in Formula-E, all racing cars will be electric-powered.

Telangana minister for municipal administration and urban development (MAUD) K.T Rama Rao on Monday announced that Telangana wants to be the epicentre of the Electric Vehicle (EV) revolution. He was speaking at the LoI signing function.

Hyderabad is the first city in India to be selected as a host for the 9th season of Formula-E racing. Minister KTR said that the competition between different Indian cities was intense but finally Hyderabad was considered.

Explaining the city and Telangana's focus on environment, he said, "The green cover in the state has increased by 147% in the last 10 years. Also, with the Haritha Haram project, two billion saplings were planted in the state of which 85% have survived and 632 sq km of green cover has been developed in the last two years."

Elaborating on Telangana's decarbonization vision, KTR explained the state's initiative in moving towards EVs. "Two electric car manufacturing plants are already functioning in Sitarampur and Divitipalle. We are planning to set up four electric bus manufacturing units, three electric cell manufacturing plants, and a battery recycling plant in the state," he said.

He also said holding the racing in Hyderabad will provide a fillip to the city's infrastructure.

FIA CCO Alberto appreciated the government's quick decision-making. "It was just 29 days ago that I got a call informing me about Hyderabad as a potential racing host city. It's a rarity that a city has moved as a host city so soon," he said.

Mr. Alberto also said that the race in Hyderabad will probably take place between November 2022 and February 2023.

Dibagh Gill, CEO and team principal of Mahindra Racing, the only Indian team to participate in the Formula E racing championship, said, "We have participated in racing in Beijing, Mexico, and Rome but we wanted to race in our county."

Mr. Dilbagh, who played a key role in bringing Formula-E to Hyderabad, stressed the relevance of EVs. "In 18 months, we will move from petrol cars to EVs," he said.

Special chief secretary (MAUD) Arvind Kumar, Greenko Group CEO Anil Chalamsetty, and track and overlay director of FIA Formula-E Aguz Zomento were also present at the event.