Farmers at crossroads as Congress govt in Telangana pushes ahead with Bharat Future City

Hyderabad: Around 50 kilometres south of Hyderabad, in the green belt of Rangareddy district, tribal farmers have been sitting on a relay hunger strike for over 50. They are demanding that the government leave their lands untouched.

At the heart of the dispute is Bharat Future City, an ambitious greenfield project that the Congress government is positioning as a signature legacy of the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's tenure. Envisioned as Telangana's "fourth city" after Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Cyberabad, the proposed development covers around 30,000 acres Yacharam, Kandukur and Kadthal mandals of Rangareddy district.

Government envisaged that the Future City Telangana is India’s first Net Zero Greenfield Smart City, 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. Government plans to have world class infrastructure, advanced technology hubs, and sustainable living solutions. It’s designed to offer a self-sustaining urban ecosystem where innovation, green energy, and inclusive growth go hand in hand.

The project's origins, however, are contested. “The same land was earlier earmarked for the Hyderabad Pharma City under the previous BRS government, which had notified around 19,333 acres for pharma manufacturing units, a thermal power plant and a university. During the 2023 elections, Congress leaders including Revanth Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka, Seethakka and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy marched alongside farmers, promised to cancel Pharma City and pledged to return acquired lands,” said Saraswathy Kavula, an activist working for the welfare of local farmers.

Once in power, the Congress government announced the cancellation of Pharma City. Instead, a new authority, the Future City Development Authority, was constituted.

"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 added.

Farmers from four villages Medipally, Nanaknagar, Tatiparthy and Kurmidda who had obtained High Court stay orders against land acquisition for laying a greenfield road project a part of the pharma city and now futute city project found their names deleted from revenue records during the BRS tenure, replaced with that of the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. When courts ordered restoration, the farmers' names were reinstated. But now, under the new government, fencing of court-protected lands has resumed, backed by heavy police deployment.

“At the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Future City Development Authority building, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy 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,” added Saraswathy.