“GHMC is now one of India’s largest municipal corporations” | Photo credit: The Hindu
The year 2025 was a landmark year for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), with the area under its jurisdiction expanding from 650 sq km to 2,053 sq km after taking over 27 fringe urban local bodies (ULBs). GHMC is now one of India’s largest urban corporations surrounded by the 158 km Nehru Outer Ring Road.
Three key ordinances in late 2025, amending the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019 and the GHMC Act, 1955, facilitated the expansion of GHMCs and amalgamation of ULBs that are either within or passed through the ORR. The ordinances were passed by the Telangana legislature during its winter session. GHMC has now grown from six zones to 12 zones, 30 circles to 60 circles and 150 wards/divisions to 300 wards/divisions. With the tenure of the GHMC Council ending on February 11, 2026, new councilors for 300 wards are to be elected in the new elections.
While no official announcement has been made yet, there is talk that the civic body could be split into three different corporations — Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri. There has been expedited appointment of additional commissioners in Kyberabad and Malkajgiri regions, devolution and also reorganization of the Town Planning and Engineering Department.
Also read | Assembly passes 5 bills, gives consent to reorganize GHMC
Hyderabad is likely to become the largest of the three corporations (150 departments/divisions). Official sources confirm that it would include zones in the capital and attached regions towards the airport (Rajendra Nagar, Jalpally, Adibatla and Shamshabad). Revenues could stagnate in the city centre, space for development in the newly added zones remains limited due to height restrictions around the airport. Cyberabad would include all the western side locations which are well developed due to the existence of information technology and related industries. These include Kokapet, Raidurgam, Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Patancheru, Dundigal, Shamirpet and Medchal. Here, NRI investments seem to be attracted by gigantic towers and rising real estate prices rather than road space, water availability and quality of life.
Malkajgiri, the “third society to be”, largely comprises the eastern part of the city, home to retired government and private sector employees, middle and lower income groups and migrant populations. The area still faces challenges related to a semi-urban environment and poor infrastructure. There is also a 350-acre municipal landfill, which limits development space within a 5-6 kilometer radius.
Splitting the GHMC into three separate corporations thus negates the objective mentioned in the merger order to “address uneven growth, disparities in services and fragmented governance in rapidly urbanizing areas…”
Also read | Merger, division, expansion and birth of the huge municipality of Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Corporation would in all likelihood take control of the AIMIM, which is all set to increase its tally from 44 to 70-80 seats in the 150-member council, after the recent ward delimitation. The hard fact is that AIMIM, with its unrivaled grip on the heritage part of the city for decades, has historically displayed no progressive ethos or developmental vision. Its dominance could affect the growth dynamics and cosmopolitan quality of the corporation, with larger goals overriding local concerns.
The political motive behind all this is not defined, but the voter base of the Congress party could expand. During the 2023 parliamentary elections, all urban Assembly constituencies other than those from the Old City were captured by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi; division could help Congress. Some believe the split is to help Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s pet project, Bharat Future City, about 60 km away from the state’s administrative centre.
The government could learn from the Delhi experiment of 2012, when Delhi was divided into three corporations with the stated objective of better citizen governance. It was hit by financial strains and operational inefficiencies, and the corporations had to be reunited a decade later. Rather than wasting a decade learning the hard way, the Telangana government could focus on the shortcomings plaguing the GHMC like disparities in development, woeful staffing, rampant corruption, lack of planning and innovation in urban infrastructure and unreliable public transport.
swathi.v@thehindu.co.in
Published – 19 Jan 2026 0:32 IST
