A delegation from Hyundai Motor India Engineering (HMIE) sat down with Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday, October 16, 2026, at the MCR HRD Bodhi Pavilion in Hyderabad — and left with a clear message: the state is ready to move fast on one of its most ambitious industrial bets.

The Chief Minister's Office of Telangana confirmed that CM Revanth Reddy pitched Hyderabad directly as the ideal base for automobile manufacturing, telling the HMIE delegation — led by Managing Director Changyong Cho — that Telangana's government stands 'ready to cooperate in every way' to accelerate investment in the manufacturing sector.

The Rs 8,528 crore R&D hub at Zahirabad NIMZ

The centrepiece of the conversation is a planned global R&D and engineering centre at the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Zahirabad — a project that carries a proposed investment of Rs 8,528 crore and a target of generating 4,276 jobs. The facility, spread across 678 acres, is designed to be developed in phases.

The HMIE delegation briefed the Chief Minister on progress so far and indicated that a groundbreaking ceremony is being readied for the coming months. Once operational, the Zahirabad centre is expected to focus on vehicle testing, performance validation, and engineering process improvements — complementing Hyundai's existing advanced automotive R&D operations at HiTec City, Hyderabad.

A pitch two years in the making

This meeting did not come out of nowhere. The groundwork was laid at the 2024 World Economic Forum, when a Telangana delegation led by the Chief Minister first engaged Hyundai representatives on the investment opportunity. That outreach bore institutional fruit in June 2025, when Telangana's cabinet sub-committee on industries and investment promotion formally approved the proposed HMIE R&D centre — clearing the path to today's progress review.

The arc from Davos to a Hyderabad conference room to a Zahirabad groundbreaking is exactly the kind of investment pipeline the state has been constructing, deal by deal, sector by sector.

Why Hyderabad — the CM's case to Hyundai

Revanth Reddy made a structured geographic and logistical case. Telangana sits at the geographic centre of India, he told the delegation, and Hyderabad — ranked among the country's six major metros — stands out as a cosmopolitan, safe, and liveable city. Beyond the city itself, the state pointed to dedicated mobility clusters, strong multimodal connectivity across road, rail, and air, and future plans for high-speed port linkages.

He also outlined the Peri-Urban Region (PURE) development model as a planned framework for rapid industrial expansion beyond Hyderabad's urban core — and described the state's vision for Bharat Future City, a world-class planned city designed to attract global manufacturing and technology investment.

Hyundai invited to Invest Telangana Global Summit 2026

The meeting closed with a forward look. CM Revanth Reddy formally invited the Hyundai leadership team to participate in the Invest Telangana Global Summit 2026 — the state's flagship investment conclave — signalling that this bilateral engagement is intended to grow into a broader platform moment.

HMIE MD Changyong Cho, for his part, stated: 'We will continue our partnership in Telangana's development journey.' Senior officials present included CM Adviser and Ex-Officio Special Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao and Collector Prateek Jain.

The Zahirabad groundbreaking — and how much of the Rs 8,528 crore commitment moves from paper to piling — will tell Telangana's manufacturing story more than any summit invitation can.