The Telangana Cabinet has approved a major restructuring of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), paving the way for the merger of 27 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) under the Hyderabad core urban region into the corporation. All municipalities and municipal corporations located along and around the Outer Ring Road (ORR) will now be merged with GHMC. To enable this large-scale urban integration, necessary amendments will be made to the GHMC Act and the Telangana Municipal Act. The government stated that this decision has been taken to ensure uniform development across all areas within the ORR, where population growth and urbanisation have been rapidly increasing.
As part of the restructuring, the state has also decided to reorganise GHMC into three municipal corporations, similar to the model of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda Police Commissionerates. The move is aimed at improving administrative efficiency and decentralised governance in the expanding metropolitan region. Work has already begun on finalising boundaries and divisions to prevent jurisdictional overlap. The administrative transition is expected to be completed by March, while the tenure of the current GHMC elected body ends in February next year. After that, the government is likely to run the corporation under special administrators until the new structure becomes functional.
Once the merger is completed, Hyderabad will become the largest metropolitan city in India in terms of geographical expanse. With the inclusion of 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations from Medchal–Malkajgiri, Rangareddy and Sangareddy districts, GHMC will expand from the current 650 sq. km to almost 2,700 sq. km. The population is expected to cross two crore. The newly expanded region will include five districts, 47 mandals, 311 villages, six Lok Sabha constituencies and 28 Assembly constituencies. The government estimates that, despite the administrative challenges posed by this scale of expansion, the restructuring will result in more balanced service delivery and infrastructure development across the metropolitan area.
The state government highlighted that Hyderabad has already emerged as a global pharma hub and a rapidly growing centre for IT, biotechnology, business and commerce. Lower living costs, linguistic convenience, abundant education and employment opportunities have continued to attract people from across India, accelerating urban expansion beyond the ORR. Against this backdrop, the government believes that dividing GHMC into three corporations will enhance governance and help accelerate metropolitan development. According to officials, the taxes collected from citizens, the civic services provided to them and the overall administrative framework will now be standardized across the city.
The municipalities and corporations merged into GHMC include Boduppal, Peerzadiguda, Jawaharnagar, Nizampet, Badangpet, Meerpet and Bandlaguda Jagir municipal corporations, along with the municipalities of Dammaiguda, Nagaram, Pocharam, Ghatkesar, Gundlapochampalli, Thumkunta, Dundigal, Kompally, Medchal, Pedda Amberpet, Turkayamjal, Adibatla, Jalpally, Shamshabad, Manikonda, Tukkuguda, Narsingi, IDA Bollaram, Tellapur and Ameenpur. With the merger of these suburban bodies into GHMC and the formation of three new corporations, the government hopes to create a structured, streamlined and development-oriented administrative model for Hyderabad’s next phase of metropolitan growth.