Hyderabad: With the inclusion of revenue-rich zones such as Serilingampally and Kukatpally, along with Quthbullapur, the newly formed Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) is poised to emerge as the wealthiest civic body in Telangana.Data accessed by TOI reveals that despite having barely half the number of wards—76, compared to the 150 wards that will now comprise the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)—and covering just three major zones, the newly formed civic body is set to outperform GHMC in tax collections.While the 150 wards that will be part of GHMC collected around Rs 750 crore in property tax so far this financial year (2025–26), the collections of the 76 wards that will comprise the Cyberabad civic body touched Rs 820 crore—nearly double that of the 74-ward body that will become the Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC). Officials expect the total property tax revenue from the 76 wards under Cyberabad to touch Rs 1,200 crore by March 31.In a striking indicator of revenue concentration here, the top two highest property tax-collecting circles in the city are from Cyberabad—Madhapur and Serilingampally. Together, these two circles alone generated Rs 292 crore in property tax revenue, accounting for nearly 15% of the total Rs 1,995 crore collected from all 60 circles across the Greater Hyderabad region.Speaking to TOI, G Srijana, who has been named commissioner of the newly-formed CMC, said revenue augmentation would focus on identifying unassessed and under-assessed properties. “Revenue is critical for development activities. We will strengthen sanitation, address infrastructure gaps, and focus on improving parks, footpaths, and street lighting. Development will also be taken up in areas that were previously neglected,” she said.The financial strength of the CMC can be attributed to its rapidly expanding IT corridor, dense commercial establishments, premium residential layouts, and a surge in high-rise developments. This apart, building permissions—especially for high-rise and gated community projects—fall within CMC limits, contributing substantially to revenues through building fees, impact fees, and development charges.Apart from property taxes, CMC will also generate high revenue from trade licences, advertisement fees, and other municipal receipts compared to Malkajgiri. Moreover, several ongoing and proposed infrastructure projects, including road expansions, flyovers, and urban amenities, are concentrated in the Cyberabad region.On the other hand, the restructured GHMC is likely to witness a sharp dip in revenue after losing the IT corridor zones to Cyberabad. During 2024–25, the erstwhile GHMC recorded over Rs 2,000 crore in property tax collections and another Rs 1,500 crore of revenue from sources like building permissions, mutations, and others. With the bifurcation and around six weeks left in the current financial year, GHMC is expected to close at around Rs 1,000 crore—nearly half of its earlier collections.“To improve revenue, all property tax services are fully digitised, including mutations and blocking of duplicate records. We also integrated property tax data with TGSPDCL to enhance revenue realisation,” a senior official in GHMC’s revenue wing said.
