What does the ₹5 lakh crore land pool really unlock for the Telangana capital – new economic growth or a sweetheart deal disguised as urban transformation? This question now hangs over the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation Policy (HILTP), a government proposal to convert thousands of acres of industrial land in and around the Outer Ring Road (ORR) into multi-use urban areas. The policy is being worked on rapidly, but the land it touches is some of the most valuable in Greater Hyderabad, and that is why the opposition is sounding the alarm.
HILTP will enable the conversion of industrial land into multi-zones, enabling a mix of residential, commercial, institutional and recreational uses along with technology parks. In return, the government expects substantial non-tax revenue through development charges equal to 50% of the cost on plots adjacent to 80-foot roads and 30% on plots with widths less than that width. Of the receipts, 25% will remain with the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), and the rest will flow into the state treasury.
The government order framed the policy as a strategic intervention with deep and far-reaching economic, urban planning and environmental benefits, arguing that ORR-area estates established 50 to 60 years ago have been swallowed up by urban expansion and need to be repurposed.
The policy has been proposed at a time of financial stress, with the government trying to shore up falling revenues this year. By the end of October, Telangana’s receipts stood at ₹94,555 crore, just 41.16% of the budget target of ₹2.29 lakh crore, with five months left in the financial year. Borrowings and liabilities stood at ₹50,541 crore. With declining revenues, land monetization has emerged as a way to ease the pressure.
However, opposition parties are seeing it as a big financial scam. According to his estimates, the policy affects about 9,292 acres of land in and around the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits, reportedly worth around ₹5 lakh crore. Both the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allege that the government has chosen to convert the land to benefit its “near and dear ones” rather than the state.
Valuation gap raises doubts
Their case is based on variations between the valuation ranges used to calculate the lump sum development fee, particularly in long-established industrial belts such as Nacharam, Mallapur, Cherlapalli, Moula Ali, Uppal, Kukatpally, Jeedimetla, Balanagar, Sanathnagar, Medchal Kushaiguda, Gandhinagar, Patancheru, Pashamailram, Ramachandrapuram, Katedan, Hayatnagar and Chandulal. In Baradari.
In Nacharam, the per square yard price determined by the TGIIC is ₹32,881 while the sub-registrar office (SRO) price is ₹21,000. In Moula Ali, the TGIIC valuation is ₹46,895 per square yard, while that under SRO is ₹20,300. Balanagar shows a similar jump, where the TGIIC rate is ₹52,523 per square yard while the SRO rate is ₹18,300. In Hayatnagar, the price of TGIIC is ₹54,340 per square meter against SRO’s ₹12,200, which is almost three times higher.
BRS leaders and former ministers KT Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao cite these gaps as evidence that cheap SRO prices may be adopted so that lands can be offered at throwaway prices.
Rama Rao argues that this land was originally acquired from people to create jobs and given to industries at very low rates by the previous government. “But the A. Revanth Reddy-led Congress government is now attempting to hand over 9,292 acres of land to private individuals. This is a huge financial irregularity,” he has alleged.
Union Minister and senior BJP leader G. Kishan Reddy has accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of bypassing the process in bringing in the HILTP, saying there was no consultation with elected representatives, current land owners or workers still employed in the functioning units. He questions relocating industries outside ORR without assessing the impact on workers’ families.
He points to the lack of any socioeconomic impact study on the thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled workers who depended on industrial estates for a steady income.
Sanathnagar is today a central node of Hyderabad, where land prices are close to ₹100 crore per acre. , Photo Courtesy: Nagara Gopal
M. Padmanabha Reddy, president of the non-profit Forum for Good Governance, says the concerns are not about employment of workers as no industrial units are currently operating there, but only about the cost at which the land will be transferred. “Let the chief minister auction the lands,” he suggested, adding that the government’s approach was leaving room for a lot of “doubts”.
Kishan Reddy also highlighted the absence of an expert committee to study the issue and make recommendations after consultation with stakeholders. Soon after the policy was announced, the government constituted a panel and gave it only one week’s time to submit its report. “This shows how Revanth Reddy is taking unilateral decisions, which reflects the tendency of former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (BRS) during his nine-year tenure,” says Kishan Reddy.
government defense
The government argues that this policy has been pending for a long time. According to its order, decades-old industrial estates are now located in the densest parts of the city, creating environmental and socio-economic pressures. What were once peripheral groups have over decades been absorbed into the urban fabric of Greater Hyderabad.
Industrial centers established in the 1970s – Uppal, Sanathnagar, Kukatpally, Nacharam, Hayatnagar and others – now lie at the heart of a rapidly growing metropolitan area, a change accelerated by the recent merger of 27 surrounding urban local bodies. Accordingly, land values have increased, as industrial estates that were once located outside the city limits now fall within high-demand areas for commercial real estate and large-format infrastructure.
Sanathnagar and Kukatpally are the central nodes today with prices close to ₹100 crore per acre. In Hayatnagar near Ramoji Film City and Uppal, located just a few kilometers from the city centre, prices have risen beyond the reach of low- and middle-income families. The merger of Medchal with GHMC has further accelerated this trend, where the rates set by TGIC are also lower than the prevailing market prices.
The proposed conversion of these lands into mixed-use areas, ranging from residential, commercial and institutional to recreational, is expected to take development in these belts on a new path. With locations like Sanathnagar, Balanagar, Kukatpally and Hayatnagar falling within accessible range of the Metro Rail network, rents are likely to increase rapidly, while land prices may rise, making it difficult for low-income and middle-income families to purchase even small plots for housing. Real estate developers and commercial operators are already positioning themselves for the first-mover advantage as demand for premium parcels increases.
The neighboring areas adjacent to these industrial belts, including Moula Ali, Miyapur and Vanasthalipuram, offer early evidence of this change, having developed into self-contained mini-cities with full amenities driven by rapid housing demand and retail expansion.
The surge in business activity is expected to create opportunities for daily wage earners and former industrial workers who currently depend on small-time jobs to survive, but the sustainability of this transition remains uncertain. While a service sector boom may provide short-term relief, it is unclear whether these new jobs can match the earnings, security and dignity provided by factory-floor employment for decades, raising important questions for policymakers about the future of low-income households in Hyderabad’s changing economic landscape.
Public policy expert D. Narasimha Reddy says the government order appears more like an administrative directive than a holistic, inclusive instrument. He pointed out that three glaring flaws – no safety net for workers’ livelihood, environmental protection and lack of road map for relocation of existing industries – are evident from the current policy.
‘Revival of unviable land’
In this backdrop, the government says Bhumi faces two problems. Many industrial units have become unviable due to outdated technology, disrupted supply chains and rising compliance costs in dense urban environments. Many have already closed, leaving prime land underutilized and unproductive.
It has been argued that the relocation of these industries is nothing new, citing GO 20 (2013) in undivided Andhra Pradesh, which mandates strategic relocation of polluting industries outside the ORR. For its part, TGIIC is already developing modern, eco-friendly industrial parks to support the move. The government policy states, “The proposed HILTP is the logical and strategic next step to repurpose vacant underutilized lands within ORR, transforming them into productive and integrated urban spaces.”
Under the policy, all TGIIC industrial estates, parks, auto-towns and standalone industrial units within and adjacent to ORR are eligible for conversion, paving the way for apartments, integrated townships, offices, retail centres, hotels, schools, hospitals, research centres, parks, sports facilities and cultural centres, besides technology complexes in line with the GRID (Increased Dispersion) policy of the state.
As criticism by the opposition mounted, the government tried to defend its stance, claiming that the proposal to shift industries within the ORR limits was not new and that the issue had been raised by governments of the then united Andhra Pradesh as part of efforts to make the city pollution-free.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu and Jupalli Krishna Rao described BRS’s allegations as “baseless” and accused it of mudslinging. “When Rama Rao was minister between 2017 and 2022, he himself proposed to shift 200 industrial parks from the ORR limit. Of those, 42 acres were converted from industrial to residential use during the BRS regime,” Uttam Reddy said.
They emphasize that the land is not government-owned and was purchased by industrialists decades ago, and the change in land use formalizes its new potential.
Beyond the political fight, officials are stunned by how details of the policy leaked before its formal announcement. Rama Rao’s early disclosure of SRO values and specifics has triggered an internal investigation.
The government is reportedly preparing to release details of land deals during the previous regime, claiming that many deals were done without any policy framework or Cabinet approval.
