Telangana unveils BuildNow: AI-powered new building, layout online approval system

Hyderabad: To further cut down on the time required for the application process, the Telangana Government is going to switch to a more straightforward and effective building permit system than TG-bPASS (Telangana Building Permit Approval and Self-Certification System) from February 1, 2025.

At a programme held at Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat here on Tuesday, Minister for IT Sridhar Babu launched the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) department’s initiative ‘BuildNow’, a new Unified Online Building and Layout Approval System for Telangana that uses Artificial Intelligence and technical advancements.

Online application system for licenses

In accordance with the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, Telangana, which has long used an online application system for licenses, switched from the Development Permission Management System (DPMS) to TG-bPASS (formerly TS-bPASS).

Speaking on the occasion, Sridhar Babu said, “In contrast to the previous 20–30 days, the new approach incorporates what is known as ‘India’s fastest drawing scrutiny system,’ which reduces the maximum time required for plan inspection to less than five minutes. The new software introduces technological innovations to speed them up, but the process stays the same.”

‘Process time shortened’

The IT minister said that in less than a minute, the drawing scrutiny will be completed for individual homes that fall under the category of non-multi-storey constructions. The entire processing time is shortened by five to seven days as a result, and the submission time is drastically reduced from weeks to hours, he added.

Elaborating on the project details, the minister said that the usage of Artificial Intelligence to respond to user inquiries is another element that makes it easy to use.

“Both officials and applicants might contact the generative AI chatbot with any questions they may have. A single interface for the full state is an additional enhancement. In the past, we had distinct web portals for different types of applications, but now they are all combined into one platform,” he said.

3D visualizations to check building standards

Apart from that, the minister also said that the citizens would benefit from Augmented Reality’s immersive 3D visualizations, while law enforcement will use it to evaluate whether building standards are being followed. The system improves transparency and tracks applications in a verifiable manner using blockchain technology.

Additionally, the field verification workers can enter the ground verification details from the site using a mobile app, saving them from having to go back to the office and enter them into a desktop. All officials have access to real-time dashboards that allow them to quickly check the status of applications in any given region. Additional features of the new system include support for e-signatures, document management, payment gateway connections and GIS integration, the minister said.