Hyderabad: US consulate raises flag for last time at Paigah Palace

Hyderabad: US consulate in Hyderabad for the last time raised the American flag at Paigah Palace. It was first raised 14 years ago on October 24, 2008.

Speaking on the occasion, US Consul General in Hyderabad Jennifer Larson said, ‘On October 24, 2008, we raised the flag over the US Consulate in Hyderabad for the first time and after 14 years, today is the last time we will observe the anniversary here at the beautiful Paigah Palace’.

She further said, ‘We opened this consulate in 2008 because we knew this region would play a major role in expanding the US-India partnership in the twenty-first century. That’s just as true today as it was fourteen years ago’.

Speaking about the future of the US Consulate in Hyderabad, she said, ‘Now we are preparing to move into a state-of-the-art $300 million facility in Hyderabad’s Financial District with 255 desks for staff and 54 windows for visa and passport services’.

She further said, ‘We are investing in this region because we believe the US-India relationship will continue to grow stronger in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha’

‘So as we commemorate the day the American flag first flew over the US Consulate at Paigah Palace, we look forward to flying our flag and marking many more anniversaries from our new home in Hyderabad’, she added.

US Consulate office in Hyderabad

The US Consulate office in Hyderabad is the first US diplomatic office to open in India after 1947.

It is located in Paigah Palace, Chiran Fort Lane, Begumpet.

The Hyderabad Consular District covers three states. They are as follows:

1. Telangana
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Odisha

Paigah Palace

The historical building was built by Sir Vicar-ul-Umra who was a Paigah nobleman. The palace which is spread on four-acre land is a double-storied building.

The Paigah family who is known as the foremost palace builders in Hyderabad was next to the Nizams’ family in the hierarchy of nobles of Hyderabad.