“Greater” Hyderabad

• Current city area: 650 sq. km
• Recently expanded to: 2,735 sq. km
• Current divisions: 150
• To be increased to: 400

The landscape of Hyderabad Metropolitan City is set to change, transforming it into a much larger metro city. Currently, the GHMC area spans 650 sq. km, but with the recent merger of 27 municipalities and corporations, it will expand to 2,735 sq. km.

Among the municipalities being merged into GHMC, the areas of Shamshabad, Narsingi, and Medchal extend 2–3 km beyond the ORR (Outer Ring Road). Since these fall within the ORR growth corridor, urbanisation is progressing rapidly there, whereas development in other areas is not as fast.

Additionally, the development and urban planning in these municipalities and corporations are currently disorganised and fragmented. The merger decision was taken to implement uniform development planning across the metropolitan area, ensure systematic planning of colonies, facilitate disaster management, and design strategies to attract investments to all regions.

Currently, the GHMC area has a population of over 1 crore. Officials say that after the GHMC expansion, the city population is expected to rise to nearly 2 crores, meaning half of Telangana’s total population will reside within the GHMC limits.

Due to the Greater City expansion, the existing 150 divisions will increase to 400. GHMC’s current annual budget is Rs 8,000 crores, and after the expansion, it could exceed Rs 15,000 crores.

After extending GHMC up to the Outer Ring Road, the area will be divided into four zones. Officials say GHMC will be administratively managed as East, West, North, and South zones. If the Telangana government gives the green signal, the reorganisation of divisions and corporations is expected to be completed within one to two months.