CM Revanth Reddy announced ambitious plans to develop a ‘Future City,’ marking it as the fourth city in the suburbs of Greater Hyderabad. However, it now appears to be a mere kite-flying attempt by the Congress government.
As soon as Revanth assumed power, he announced the scrapping of the world-class Pharma City project, initiated by the KCR government. From day one, it was apparent that Revanth intended to use the 13,000 acres pooled for the Pharma City project for his pet project. However, as the farmers who had given land for the project knocked on the doors of the High Court, his dream city now seems to be a non-starter, with the High Court ordering the CM to decide on the Pharma City by September 20.
We have already reported that the strict provisions in the 2013 Land Acquisition Act would be a hindrance for Revanth to realize his ‘Future City.’ The law mandates that land acquired for a specific purpose cannot be used for any other purpose. This means that the 2013 law will not permit Revanth to use Pharma City lands for his new city.
Shocked by the court’s order, Revanth retracted his stance and came up with a new proposal to set up a ‘Green Pharma City’ in place of Pharma City. Earlier, Revanth had also announced his intention to establish smaller pharma clusters across 10 different locations, each ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 acres.
As a result of the court’s order, there could be significant changes to the ‘Future City’ master plan. It is also believed that the Congress government might slow down the pace of ‘Future City’ in light of these legal proceedings.
However, it appears that the new ‘Green Pharma City’ project announced by Revanth is a diversion tactic in response to the High Court’s directive. This episode also exposes how confused the current regime is regarding major infrastructure projects.