Hyderabad to soon get futuristic multi-level parking

With an automated parking facility backed by cutting-edge technology, the complex can accommodate around 250 cars

Hyderabad: In around three months’ time, Hyderabadis will have access to a futuristic multi-level parking complex in Nampally. With an automated parking facility backed by cutting-edge technology, the complex can accommodate around 250 cars.

Called ‘Novum’, the project being built under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) by Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) is the brainchild of former MA&UD Minister KT Rama Rao. Initiated in 2018 to ease the parking woes in the city, the project hit a roadblock in 2020 due to the global pandemic and is in its final stage of construction now.

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The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 80 crore and is being handled by Bhari Infra Private Ltd. The cost of parking will be Rs 100 and upwards depending on the duration of time the car is at the facility. To ensure the security of the vehicles, a trial run will also be conducted after completion.

With a total height of 39.06 metres, the building has 12 floors and three basement levels. While the ground through the fifth floors is earmarked for commercial use, the sixth to twelfth floors and all the basement levels will be used for parking. Each floor varies in elevation to accommodate various types of vehicles, including bikes.

“We have these glass walls where the machine will take these cars up and down so that anyone from the road can see how wonderfully this works. There are also plans for an open-air restaurant on the fifth floor, and a viewing gallery on the top floor from where visitors can watch this,” said an official.

Both the machinery and software are supplied by a German company Palis Automated Parking. Once a car enters the building and is handed over, the entire process of parking is undertaken without human intervention. The sensors will scan the car and record key details like model and height, using which it will automatically assign a parking spot in the facility, and transport it. The entire process of parking would not take more than a few minutes.

When a vehicle is regularly parked at the facility or if it is registered in the system, the software will learn the customers’ requirements and cater to them. With this project being treated as a pilot, authorities are expected to understand its feasibility and replicate it at another 30 locations across the city.