Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the purview of which has been expanded from 650 square kilometres to 2,053 square kilometres recently, may not remain so for very long.
A media conference by the GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, left enough cues for the scribes to deduce that the GHMC’s glory as the largest corporation in the country could be short-lived. Unconfirmed reports about division of the civic body into three corporations have found strength in Mr. Karnan’s prevarication in response to a question, that the corporation would remain as it is till February, 2026.
In February, the term of the present council would come to an end, after which elections will have to be conducted for the next council. News going around is that the elections would take place only after the division. Appointment of two Additional Commissioners for a cluster of three zones each also added strength to the conjecture. The Additional Commissioners G. Srijana and Vinay Krishna Reddy have been given charge of Kukatpally-Quthbullapur-Serilingampally and Malkajgiri-LB Nagar-Uppal clusters respectively.
Clarifying on the hierarchy, Mr. Karnan said the zonal commissioners of the corresponding zones would report to the Additional Commissioner concerned, and the Additional Commissioners in turn would report to the GHMC Commissioner. It is speculated that the Additional Commissioners would be given independent charge of the corporations that would be constituted in future.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, official sources informed that GHMC will be consigned to annals of history after February, when it would be divided into either two or three corporations. Already, hectic activity is on in terms of staffing — deploying personnel and according elevations across the departments such as Engineering and Town Planning. If the indications are to be believed, there could be three corporations after February, namely Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri. Officials surmise that Hyderabad will be the largest corporation, with 150 wards, extending from Secunderabad up to Shamshabad, and including areas such as Tarnaka, Musheerabad, Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Khairatabad, Jiyaguda, Attapur, Rajendranagar, Jalpally, Adibatla and Shamshabad.
Cyberabad might include the areas under IT industries extending from Narsingi up to Shamirpet, including Kokapet, Raidurgam, Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Patancheru, Dundigal and Medchal, subsuming around half of the remaining 150 divisions.
Malkajgiri may constitute majority of the areas spread over the city’s Eastern and Northern directions, from Keersara up to Pedda Amberpet, including areas such as Bowenpally, Moulali, Alwal, Kapra, Ghatkesar, Nagole, Saroornagar, and Hayatnagar. This is based on the recent reorganisation of the police commissionerates.
Malkajgiri corporator Sravan Kumar Vurapalli said the frantic activity in the staffing pattern almost confirmed the upcoming division of the corporation, and attributed it to Congress government’s alleged collusion with AIMIM. He also questioned the unequal development paradigm sought to be perpetuated among corporations, with Cyberabad standing to gain and Malkajgiri, to lose heavily. He demanded special package for Malkajgiri if the division is on cards.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
