Bharat Future City: Telangana's Mega Project Faces Backlash from Farmers and Environmentalists

The Hindu

25-06-2025

Less than an hour's drive from Hyderabad and about half an hour away from the city's airport, a brand new city is in the works amidst fertile agricultural lands and existing habitations.
The Telangana government hopes that the new city will herald a new phase of development involving large-scale infrastructure projects, industrial parks, and urban expansion. However, many farmers, farm labourers, and environmental activists are opposed to the project.
What complicates matters for the Congress government is that when the party was in the opposition, it had opposed the very developmental activities that it is now attempting to pursue in the same region, projects once championed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
First announced as Fourth City, and then renamed Future City, the proposed new city was rechristened Bharat Future City by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy during Telangana Formation Day celebrations on June 2. The project, which has been in the works for nearly a year, is Reddy's brainchild. Over the past year, Reddy and other leaders, such as Minister Duddila Sridhar Babu, have discussed what Future City would comprise: an AI hub, a health city, a world-class stadium, a sports hub, a skill university, and more.
In April 2025, Reddy announced that the State had bagged a Rs,1,000 crore investment from Marubeni, a Japanese conglomerate, to create Telangana's first next-generation industrial park at Future City. In May, Sridhar Babu announced that a 1,000 acre 'electronic city' would be one of the core projects of the new city.
The government is promising jobs, development, and wealth creation. However, activists and environmental experts have criticised the government, saying that it has given no thought to the residents of these villages while conceiving this mega city project. An official master plan for the proposed Future City has not yet been completed, and there is no publicly available feasibility study or impact assessment of it either.
Future City comprises 56 villages from 7 mandals. The villages fall under three Assembly constituencies (Ibrahimpatnam, Maheshwaram, and Kalwakurthy). The proposed city, to be built over an expanse of 765 square kilometres, or nearly 2,00,000 acres, is under the jurisdiction of the Future City Development Authority (FCDA).
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The proposed city would have the Outer Ring Road (a multi-lane road that encircles Hyderabad) to its north, the proposed Regional Ring Road (a multi-lane road that will encircle at least eight districts) to its south, the Nagarjuna Sagar State Highway to its east, and the Srisailam National Highway to its west. The government is confident that it is a strategic location that will facilitate both urban and industrial growth.
Environmental impact
While the area under the FCDA has peri-urban pockets owing to its proximity to Hyderabad, it is otherwise a vast expanse of agricultural fields interspersed with forest areas. The farmers in this part of the State rely primarily on bore wells and rain-fed irrigation, as numerous lakes and small ponds fill up during the monsoon.
Five reserve forest blocks (including Kurmidda, Medipally, and Mucherla) are part of Future City. They are spread across at least 15,000 acres, according to officials. There are also stretches of trees and grassland. Adjacent to the proposed city is the Kongara Kalan forest stretch. This correspondent stumbled upon several wild animals while visiting the area in May.
Ironically, the rich, intertwined ecosystem—now under threat—is being marketed as a 'salient feature' of Future City, with real estate developers abuzz at the prospect of using it as a USP to sell premium residential layouts offering scenic views, fresh air, and water.
However, for nearly a decade, residents of some villages (now under the FCDA) have been waging a battle against the State government to preserve the same fresh air, water, and land. For them, the Future City promise is a story of betrayal.
The potential that the current government sees in this region is confined to a much smaller extent than the total jurisdiction of the FCDA. The BRS had acquired land for a mega Pharma City project (announced immediately after it came to power in 2014) that was opposed by a section of farmers. During its two terms, the BRS acquired land in the three mandals of Yacharam, Kandukur, and Kadthal. Out of over 19,000 acres deemed necessary for Pharma City, the BRS managed to acquire nearly 14,000 acres. This expanse is being considered the core Future City area now.
Voices of criticism
K. Babu Rao, environmentalist and retired scientist, said: 'Simply because they have a land bank of 14,000 acres that the BRS acquired, they [the Congress government] have conceived a city to retain it.' This is also the popular sentiment about Future City amongst those who oppose it.
An advocate practising in the Telangana High Court and appearing in a majority of the Pharma City cases said: 'Of the total land, about 10,000 acres has been paid for by the BRS government, and people received the money. There are two other categories of farmers. In over 1,500 acres, farmers didn't approach the court and didn't take the money. They have been a bit vulnerable. In over 2,000 acres, people approached the court and got stay orders. In Medipally and Kurmidda, the High Court had quashed the land acquisition awards and declaration [in at least 250 acres] in August 2023.'
The High Court stayed the takeover of the entire land in at least three villages (Kurmidda, Thatiparti, and Medipally) following a petition filed by landless labourers who demanded to be fairly compensated as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
BRS land acquisition
'The BRS subverted existing laws and found workarounds to the statutory requirements. A substantial portion of it was assigned land belonging to marginalised castes, and the government coerced it away from them,' said Saraswati Kavula, an activist who has been working as part of the coalition of farmers against Pharma City since the beginning. Kavula is a documentary filmmaker and farmer residing in the Future City region.
When farmers continued to resist land acquisition, the previous BRS government removed their names from online records and halted Rythu Bandhu benefits and crop loans.
Mutyala Sai Reddy is a 55-year-old farmer from Nanak Nagar. During the BRS regime, when he refused to sell his land, it was listed in the prohibited section of the land portal. For years, Sai Reddy's family was unable to access farm loans, Rythu Bandhu benefits (which they had received once before these were terminated), and other benefits. However, he refused to give up his land. Now, under the Congress government, Sai Reddy continues his fight.
When BRS did not back down from its land acquisition plans, several Congress leaders had, in fact, backed the farmers of this region. These leaders, who are now Ministers, had promised the farmers that if they came to power they would allow the farmers to retain any money they had accepted from the government and also their land. In its manifesto for the 2023 Assembly election, the Congress promised that the Pharma City Policy would be reviewed in accordance with the aspirations of farmers, adding that the project would either be scrapped or relocated elsewhere. However, after coming to power, the Congress has announced the Future City project without holding any consultative meetings with the farmers.
Suppression of farmers
Away from the spotlight, the State suppression of dissenters such as Sai Reddy continues, allege activists. In January, when a coalition of farmers against Pharma City approached the police for permission for a survey, foot march, and awareness campaign in Nanak Nagar (one of the Pharma City villages), they were denied permission. Sai Reddy and others appealed to the High Court, which noted that the denial was in violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution and directed the authorities to grant permission.
'The same order [quashing awards] that some Congress leaders had celebrated in August 2023 was challenged by the Congress government after coming to power,' the advocate said. The activists said that the Congress government, with an eye on electoral benefits, waited until the Lok Sabha election results before announcing the Future City project.
In September 2024, Navin Mittal, Principal Secretary to the government (Land Revenue), filed a counter-affidavit in the High Court in a land acquisition–related petition, categorically stating that there had been no orders to scrap the Pharma City project.
'We walked for the Congress leaders, we campaigned for them ahead of elections. We truly trusted them,' said Narayana Das, a 70-year-old farmer from Thatiparti. It is this 'betrayal' that has stung the farmers the most.
In April and early May this year, Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) began fencing the land that the government had acquired, sparking a stir in the villages. The farmers who received a stay order during the BRS term fought against the fencing, claiming that the stay applied to the entire land acquisition process. They filed contempt of court petitions. The court has served notices to several departments to show cause. The hearing is expected to continue in June. Frontline reached out to officials at TGIIC but has yet to receive a response.
The farmers and labourers who are opposed to the project fear that the infrastructural projects and industrial parks will leave behind a trail of destruction in their villages, rendering them uninhabitable. However, opposition to Pharma City and now Future City is not just rooted in concerns regarding pollution and emissions, it also concerns fears of erasure of farmland.
'Cities such as Hyderabad depend upon the villages around it. Every grain of food the city dwellers eat comes from villages. The milk comes from the villages. The vegetables and fruits are from nearby villages. Why would the government want to destroy such fertile lands which can grow two crops a year?' Saraswati asked.
One of the concerns of the people in this region is that their existing habitations may become islands of underdevelopment amidst new high-rise residential layouts, industries, or offices. The lands that the government owns are adjacent to existing houses and colonies, and limiting the fallout of new development would be challenging.
'The government officials have fenced all land adjacent to my field. They even fenced a water source in the nearby forest stretch. What's the guarantee that they won't block the access to my field if I keep refusing to part with my land?' Narayana Das asked. The officials have assured the farmers that access to their farms will not be blocked and that new radial roads will be built to the villages. But farmers want more than that. A thorough exercise of gathering opinions, through public hearings, for example, could help the government understand what the people here actually want. Some farmers want at least a consultative meeting or public hearing to be held, but some others do not think it will do any good.
Govt version
Officials maintained that only a small section of people are protesting and trying to cause a stir. An official said that some villages not listed as part of Future City wish to be added to the jurisdiction. This claim has some basis. For instance, when villagers of Mondi Gowrelli requested that they be added to the Future City plan, revenue officials reportedly issued a land acquisition notification (senior officials have neither confirmed nor denied this). Following this, the villagers protested against the move. They want the city but do not want to part with their land.
Even in villages that have been listed as Future City but where no land has been acquired yet, people Frontline spoke to seemed enthused about the idea of a city. However, they do not want to give up their land.
While the government has been promising job creation and new opportunities, youngsters among those fighting against Future City are not interested in working as industrial labour or in doing clerical jobs.
What the youth think
In Kurmidda, for instance, a young farmer who owns some 20 cows told Frontline that he earns around Rs.1 lakh a month from dairy farming. The village is known for its substantial livestock and dairy production.
Frontline also spoke to several other young graduates who had returned to their villages after graduation to continue working with their families. Industrial jobs do not seem like a worthwhile alternative for such people who have substantial farm-based incomes.
The most disadvantaged are the landless labourers in the villages where 14,000 acres had been acquired. One does not need to speculate on how land-use changes will impact them as Pharma City and the acquisition of land have already led to reduction in farm work, prompting several people to seek wage labour in construction and small industries.
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Chandramma is a 55-year-old widow from Kurmidda village. Her family parted with some land during the early phases of land acquisition in 2016. From early on, she has worked both on her farm and as a farm labourer. She said: 'People here have sympathy for me. Nobody in other villages would care for me the way people here do. I look older than I am. Why will anyone hire me for work?'
Residents are also worried that the FCDA will dilute the autonomy of villages. Although officials insist that the 70-plus gram panchayats will continue to exist, a combination of misinformation and lack of transparency has led to several doomsday narratives taking shape in the public imagination.
Older farmers, such as Das, note that the equations in the villages have changed, and that the sense of community has been lost over the years. Local political affiliations, feuds, and real estate interests have divided the mandate for Future City across the Pharma City villages. In some villages, the allegiance of activists who resisted the move during the BRS terms has always been with Congress, and hence, they are either mum or backing the Future City now.
Among opposition parties, the BRS is left with no face to join farmers in the fight over the land it once acquired.
Several civil society organisations have demanded the cancellation of the Future City project, but there has been little mobilisation of public support. Locals hope that as announced projects begin materialising, the movement may gather steam.
Meanwhile, several questions linger. Babu Rao said: 'The government should inform people of the purpose of Future City, why it is conceived, what is the action plan for it, how much time have they taken to crystallise the plan, how they have decided [about the selected villages], what have they studied. Do we really need a Future City? What is it supposed to do? How does it elevate the lives of the people of Telangana? There is nothing on the paper or publicly available. Why be so secretive?'