Telangana CM Revanth Reddy seeks ₹1 lakh crore each for six metro cities
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday, 11 June urged the Centre to constitute an M6 Cities Task Force and commit ₹1 lakh crore per city to elevate New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru to global standards. He made the appeal while addressing the 11th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, framing the outlay not as expenditure but as a strategic investment in India's most productive urban assets.
The Case for an M6 Task Force
Revanth Reddy argued that these six metropolitan cities collectively house roughly 10 per cent of India's population and generate nearly a quarter of the country's GDP, yet fall short of global benchmarks in infrastructure, mobility, and liveability. He called for a nationally empowered task force with the authority to act swiftly across all six cities.
'We urge a national task force, empowered to act with speed, to develop all six to global standards, not as expenditure, but as investment in the assets that generate the revenues, jobs and standing of a developed India,' he said.
Hyderabad-Specific Demands
Beyond the six-city framework, Revanth Reddy placed a series of Hyderabad-centric requests before the council. He sought Centre backing for the Regional Ring Road, described as the backbone of the city's next growth phase, and a 12-lane expressway linking Bharat Future City to the Machilipatnam deep-water port in Andhra Pradesh, integrating the region into global supply chains.
He also requested approval for Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase II to support low-carbon urban mobility, and federal assistance for the Musi River Rejuvenation project aimed at restoring the city's historic waterway into a world-class riverfront. Separately, he sought recognition and financing for the 30,000-acre net-zero greenfield Bharat Future City project.
Semiconductor, Irrigation and Institution Asks
The Chief Minister requested approval for the S. Jaipal Reddy Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation project and sought integration of an electronics ecosystem featuring an APMP facility, OSAT clusters, and a Micro-LED fabrication unit under the India Semiconductor Mission. He also called for an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Hyderabad to serve the state's growing aspirations in higher education.
Knowledge Economy and Education Push
Revanth Reddy outlined an ambition to position Telangana as a knowledge super-hub, stating that the government is actively working to attract international institutions — including Ivy League universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and INSEAD — in line with the National Education Policy. He noted a first milestone: the University of London is setting up an offshore campus in Hyderabad.
He cited the state's SEEPCS (Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey), conducted in 2024, which covered 3.55 crore people across 242 distinct castes and reached close to 97 per cent of households in Telangana. The survey, he said, revealed significant quality shortfalls in the current public education system and declining trust in government schooling.
Alignment with Viksit Bharat 2047
Revanth Reddy positioned all his requests within the framework of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, arguing that world-class city infrastructure and elite knowledge institutions are prerequisites for India to achieve developed-nation status. The next steps depend on whether the Centre responds with dedicated allocations or integrates these proposals into existing urban mission frameworks.