As the city grapples with the horror of the terror strike, CNBC-TV18 reports on whether brand Hyderabad has suffered any damage.

No panic, no security blanket, it was like any other Sunday morning. That was the scene at Hyderabad''s hi-tech city, just 11 hours after the two bomb blasts. So, while companies aren''t panicking, some of the country''s largest pharma companies, which are headquartered in Hyderabad, are unsure of how new recruits will now look at moving to Hyderabad to work.

"As a mix of corporations that hire a lot of people from other cities in India or possibly expats that are hired for a location in Hyderabad, I suspect there will be some more interactions on these questions. But whether it will impact or not, we will have to wait and watch," said Prabhir Jha, senior vice president, Dr Reddy''s Lab.

Hyderabad headquartered IT giant Satyam said there will not be any impact of the blasts on business, but nonetheless the company has gone ahead and increased security at its offices. The local BPO companies, which already have stringent security precautions, say working in multiple international locations and in an age of terror has made them more proactive when dealing with such incidents.

"There were at least three - four companies in Hyderabad that proactively spoke to customers. They sent emails in terms of what was being done. They sent SMS communications, in terms of what was being taken care of for guest houses, travel, etc. So, a lot of these things are done proactively so that people don''t worry," said Pratap G, senior HR Professional.

So, while the industry says such steps ensure no adverse long-term impact on the business, there are still isolated knee jerk reactions by customers.

A large BPO told us on the condition of anonymity that the blasts on Saturday already had the first impact on business. A potential customer, that is one of the world''s largest financial organizations, was supposed to do a site visit on Monday. That, however, stands cancelled. The reason being the bomb blasts.

But in the long term, almost all companies believe that ''Brand Hyderabad'' has not suffered because of the blasts.

"To me, its a stray incident. But the two blasts that happened so soon after one another may have made people take note, because Hyderabad is such a peaceful city. But this morning, I was out and I did not see anything that indicated panic or anything to suggest a slowdown," said Amitabh Guha, CMD, State Bank of Hyderabad.

"No single incident like this, however unfortunate and disgusting it is, can make the growth rate (come down) from 9 per cent to 8 per cent or something like that. Companies, however, say that local authorities must ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to book, because not only would that give local businesses more confidence, international investors too will keep the faith in Brand Hyderabad," said Rahul Bajaj, Chairman and MD, Bajaj Auto.
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