With plans to link rural and urban economies and ease congestion on the Outer Ring Road, the RRR remains a key infrastructure project. Its success will depend on farmer approval and continued coordination between the Centre and the state.
Published Oct 05, 2025 | 5:25 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 05, 2025 | 5:25 PM
The 340-km Hyderabad Regional Ring Road is aimed at easing traffic and spurring economic growth.
Synopsis: Farmer protests, land acquisition disputes, and pending environmental and National Highways Authority of India approvals have all brought progress on the southern section of Hyderabad’s Regional Ring Road (RRR) project to a crawl. On Saturday, Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy pledged fair treatment for affected farmers and promised that the project would proceed only with public consent, while accusing opposition parties of spreading misinformation. Meanwhile, the northern section of the 340-kilometre highway has achieved nearly complete land acquisition, with construction expected to begin in January 2026.
The southern part of Hyderabad’s Regional Ring Road (RRR) project is moving slowly. The 340-km six-lane highway aims to ease traffic around Telangana’s capital and improve connectivity by 2035, but progress has been uneven.
The northern section is close to construction, while the remaining half is stuck amid farmers’ concerns over land acquisition and route alignment.
The southern section, in particular, remains in the planning and acquisition stage. Work has stalled because of agitations, court cases, and pending environmental and NHAI approvals.
While the state is pushing for a new Detailed Project Report and faster clearances, land acquisition continues to lag. Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), have demanded a review of the route to protect farmland.
At Chityal in Nalgonda on Saturday, 4 October, Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy promised fair treatment for farmers whose lands have been earmarked for the project. “The government will not allow any injustice. We will move forward only with their consent,” he said.
Reddy dismissed what he called “false propaganda” that farmers would lose their land unfairly. He accused the BRS of spreading such claims for political reasons.
“I am a farmer’s son,” he said. “Do you think I will stay silent if farmers are taken for a ride?”
With plans to link rural and urban economies and ease congestion on the Outer Ring Road, the RRR remains a key infrastructure project. Its success will depend on farmer approval and continued coordination between the Centre and the state.
Reddy also announced that work to expand the Hyderabad–Vijayawada highway to eight lanes will begin in February 2026.
“As a son of Nalgonda soil,” he said, “I will not stay silent if injustice is done to this region.”
Farmers fear displacement without proper compensation. They are also concerned about route changes that they say favour real estate interests and the lack of consent in land deals. Most objections have come from southern districts such as Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar.
Protests have intensified in Sangareddy, Nalgonda, and Kondapur. Villagers accuse the government of skipping consultations and realigning roads to benefit private firms. This has led to dharnas and office sieges in several areas.
Venkata Reddy said he would take up the issue with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and form a ministerial committee to address grievances. “There will be no discrimination between rich and poor farmers. No one should doubt the alignment,” he assured.
He added that farmers “need not worry” about the southern stretch and pledged to move forward only with public consensus. He accused the former BRS government of stalling the project since its approval by Prime Minister Modi in 2017–18.
In contrast to the southern section, progress on the northern section is strong. The 161.5 km stretch from Sangareddy to Choutuppal has completed over 98 percent of land acquisition, compared with just 6 percent when the current government took over.
Tenders will open within two months, and work orders are expected to be finalised by December. Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2026. The design was upgraded from four lanes to six to meet future traffic needs.
Land costs are pegged at ₹6,000 crore, shared equally between the Centre and the state. Telangana has already secured its ₹3,000 crore share from HUDCO.
Reddy credited meetings with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for the faster progress and said, “The Centre must cooperate with us in this endeavour.”
The Union government’s support has been positive. Gadkari has backed Telangana’s road projects, including the northern RRR and the Gauravelli–Bhadrachalam highway.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
