The “Future City”, the dream greenfield project of Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy around Hyderabad, is caught in a wave of protests by a section of farmers who are unwilling to part with their lands.
Farmers from at least four major villages—Medipally, Nanaknagar, Tatiparthy, and Kurmidda—in the adjoining Ranga Reddy district are actively putting up resistance against land acquisition for the project aimed at developing world-class infrastructure, advanced technology hubs, and sustainable living solutions.
A brainchild of the Congress Chief Minister, it is also called “Fourth City”, after Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Cyberabad and is positioned as a mark of his legacy. It is designed to offer a self-sustaining urban ecosystem where innovation, green energy, and inclusive growth go hand in hand.
The proposed development covers around 30,000 acres Yacharam, Kandukur and Kadthal mandals of Rangareddy district.
Billed as India’s first Net Zero Greenfield Smart City, it is envisioned as a model for sustainable urban development and technological innovation. Spanning 30,000 acres between the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar highways, the city is planned and governed by the Future City Development Authority (FCDA) under the Telangana state government.
The project has been mired in controversies from the beginning. The same land was earlier earmarked for developing Hyderabad Pharma City under the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, which had notified around 19,333 acres for pharma manufacturing units, a thermal power plant and a university.
In the run up to the 2023 assembly elections, Congress leaders including Revanth Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka, Seethakka and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy marched alongside farmers and promised to cancel the Pharma City project and pledged to return the acquired lands to the original owners.
Once in power, the Congress government announced the cancellation of Pharma City. Instead, a new authority, the Future City Development Authority, was constituted.
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"They walked with us, they told us our lands would remain ours," said Kundarapu Narayana, a farmer belonging to the Anti-Pharma City Struggle Committee. "Today, those same leaders advise us to take the compensation money and buy land somewhere far away” he lamented.
The protesting farmers from four villages had obtained stay orders from the High Court against land acquisition for laying a greenfield road project a part of the pharma city and now the Future City project.
“At the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Future City Development Authority building, the Chief Minister said some farmers are unhappy that they did not receive proper compensation. Those who are losing their lands can take the compensation money and purchase land elsewhere, a little farther away. If our lands are so critical to this nation's future, let the Chief Minister and his colleagues first offer their own lands. Why must small farmers owning one or two acres be the ones to sacrifice everything?," said Panga Anasuya, a farmer from Kurmidda. Opponents of the project also question its environmental and legal basis.
“Under law, an environmental clearance granted for one project (in this case, Pharma City) cannot be diverted to another without fresh environmental impact assessments, public hearings and gram sabhas. The Telangana government has bypassed these steps entirely. At stake is not just legally disputed farmland, but the food security and livelihoods of nearly three lakh people, the ecological integrity of surrounding reserve forests, and the democratic rights of communities who were never consulted,” said another activist.
However, the Chief Minister asserted that the project would go ahead with full steam. He said all legal formalities, including notifications, have been completed. “There is no question of halting it even temporarily,” he said.
He acknowledged that some farmers have concerns, particularly over compensation and aspects of the Bharat Future City project. He directed elected representatives to engage with farmers, address their concerns and prevent legal disputes.
“If farmers do not accept the current compensation, they may not be able to afford land even in yards after parting their lands in acres,” he said and wanted farmers to make use of the opportunity.
The Chief Minister appealed to farmers to cooperate over the next two years to help lay the foundation for a world-class city. Reddy said delays in development projects would lead to cost escalation and hinder progress.
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