The Telangana Assembly has passed the Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026, bringing the maximum proposed revision in property tax across the Hyderabad metropolitan region down from 20% to 10% after objections from opposition members.
The Bill covers Greater Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipal corporations, an urban region with an approximate population of 1.30 crore. Legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu introduced the legislation on behalf of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who also holds the municipal administration and urban development portfolio.
The amendment followed concerns raised in the Assembly by BJP members and AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi over the proposed tax increase and the powers of the CURE apex governing council. The BJP demanded that the Bill be withdrawn, while Owaisi asked that it be referred to a Select Committee. The CPI supported the legislation.
Sridhar Babu said the 10% ceiling would apply only to affluent sections in eligible cases and would not result in an automatic increase for all property owners. He said the tax would be assessed according to property value. For poorer households, he cited an annual tax rate of Rs 101 for a 375-square-foot property, while the rate for middle-class sections would be 0.15%. Commercial properties would be taxed at 0.75%, according to his statement in the Assembly.
The Bill also introduces capital value-based property-tax assessment in the three corporations, replacing the annual rental value-based method envisaged under the Municipal Corporation Act of 1955. The minister said the capital value system was already being implemented in municipalities and municipal corporations elsewhere in Telangana and had been introduced by the previous BRS government.
The proposed change is intended to create a uniform taxation method across the three corporations. Its practical effect will depend on how property values are determined, how categories of taxpayers are applied and how the revised system is administered, although the Assembly discussion recorded the government’s stated rates and the amended 10% maximum revision.
The CURE Bill also establishes a metropolitan-level governance framework while retaining ward-level administration within each corporation. Sridhar Babu said the apex governing council, headed by the Chief Minister, would function as an advisory body and would not take away the powers of mayors and corporators. According to him, the council would set broad policy directions for the CURE area and strengthen the mayor’s role.
The government has described the legislation as a replacement for the GHMC Act of 1955 and as a framework for coordinated, technology-enabled administration across Hyderabad’s expanding metropolitan region. Sridhar Babu said the area accounts for nearly one-third of Telangana’s population and a major share of the state’s Rs 17.82 lakh crore gross state domestic product projected for 2025-26.
The minister also linked the metropolitan region to the Telangana Rising: Vision 2047 economic plan, under which CURE is envisaged as a principal engine for achieving a $3 trillion economy by 2047. The government said the Bill would create statutory mechanisms for coordination among the three corporations, state departments and other authorities while preserving decentralised administration at the ward level.
The Assembly proceedings included assurances that concerns, objections and suggestions raised by BJP, AIMIM and CPI members would be examined by the government. The Bill has now cleared the Assembly with the amended property-tax ceiling, while the implementation of the new assessment system and the proposed metropolitan coordination structure will determine how the legislation operates across Hyderabad.
