Building permissions hit due to trifurcation of GHMC

Sanction of building permission has been hit severely in the two newly carved out municipal corporations, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri, post the trifurcation of the expanded Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s purview.

The municipal limits of GHMC had been expanded to the core urban region (CURE) boundaries, enclosed by the Outer Ring Road towards the end of the year 2025. In February, the government issued orders dividing the expanded corporation into three — GHMC, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri.

A large number of applications for building permissions which have been divided among the three corporations depending on the location, are now pending approval, despite passing through the rigmarole of submission.

P. Narsimha Rao (name changed) from Uppal area applied for building permission way back in November, 2025, before the GHMC expansion was even mooted. The permission got delayed at LB Nagar zonal office itself, where the file was pending up to December 20. Post-trifurcation, the file has been sent to the newly-formed Uppal Zone into which the location falls.

“They are making me do rounds of the municipal offices. I need to lay foundation soon or else the auspicious days will be over. People resorting to illegal structures are given a free pass, but genuine owners like me are made to suffer,” fumes Mr.Rao, who did not consent to reveal his name owing to fear of retribution.

Similar complaint was shared by another owner from Quthbullahpur which was part of Kukatpally Zone earlier. Now, Quthbullahpur is a separate zone, and the application for building permission has not been processed till now.

GHMC had launched the Build Now app early last year, touting it as an AI-powered platform designed to revolutionise the processing of building and layout permissions, which was way better than the earlier software TG-bPASS. Under the system, the building plan would be approved in less than five minutes, reducing the overall waiting time that extended to 20-30 days, the officials said.

Drastic reduction in submission time was promised from weeks to hours and savings in overall processing time by five to seven days. None of these promises have been fulfilled, with several plot owners roaming around the offices despite the new system

Sources informed that many applications have been pending since December, as the officials were initially busy in GHMC expansion process, and then in the trifurcation process. It will take more time for the corporations to settle down, they said.