Two years on, Telangana’s 10 pharma villages remain on paper

The Telangana government’s proposal to establish 10 pharma villages has seen little progress over the past two-and-a-half years amid farmer opposition, land acquisition challenges and concerns from industry bodies over environmental clearances and infrastructure feasibility.

Hyderabad: More than two-and-a-half years after scrapping the proposed Pharma City project, the Congress government’s plan to establish 10 pharma villages across Telangana has made little progress.

The government had announced in February 2024 that the Pharma City project was being dropped. However, during court proceedings, it maintained that the project was still under consideration under a new name — Green Pharma City.

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At the same time, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu had announced plans to develop 10 pharma villages as part of a decentralised growth model. The proposed clusters, spread across 1,000 to 2,000 acres each, were initially planned in Vikarabad, Medak and Nalgonda districts. However, there has been no significant movement on the proposal so far.

The delay comes amid growing resistance from farmers and landowners against land acquisition for industrial parks, radial roads and other government projects. Opposition to the proposed pharma initiatives has also intensified in several areas.

Industry bodies too had expressed concerns over the government’s decentralised pharma village model. They argued that obtaining pollution control and environmental clearances for multiple smaller clusters would be more complicated than for a single integrated Pharma City project.

Industry experts had pointed out that a unified Pharma City would make it easier for companies to establish units and begin operations.

Meanwhile, the Anti Pharma City Committee, comprising farmers and representatives of voluntary organisations, has been staging protests at different locations against the proposed pharma developments.

The government has also proposed integrated greenfield pharma clusters and industrial parks along the Outer Ring Road and Regional Ring Road corridors.

For the current financial year, the Industries and Commerce Department allocated Rs 50 crore towards land acquisition for the first phase of these proposed industrial parks.

However, with land prices rising and farmers demanding higher compensation, the allocation is being seen as inadequate and raising questions over the government’s seriousness in pursuing the pharma village plan.