Telangana Assembly passes CURE Integrated Governance Bill, 2026

The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Friday passed the Telangana Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026, setting the stage for a unified governance structure across the Core Urban Region Economy (CURE). The framework will allow multiple municipal corporations to be constituted within the region while retaining a single, coordinated administrative layer.

At the centre of the new architecture is a CURE Apex Governing Council, which will define the region's vision and strategic priorities and ensure coordination among corporations, urban authorities and departments operating within the CURE area. The government has described the model as one that pairs metropolitan-level coordination with decentralised administration, aimed at making governance more responsive and citizen-centric.

Key features

The Bill proposes a shift in how local taxes are assessed, moving away from the annual rental value system to a capital value system. According to the government, this change is intended to balance the interests of citizens against the fiscal health of local bodies. Other provisions include simplification and consolidation of the licensing regime, recognition of a night economy, measures for urban labour welfare, and support for the economic participation of women and transgender persons.

Why a new law

The government has argued that the existing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act had accumulated more than a hundred obsolete or redundant provisions. It had also failed to keep pace with the expansion of the corporation's geographical limits and lacked a framework for coordinating a rapidly changing urban region. This, the Bill states, produced structural inconsistencies and gaps in urban governance and service delivery, making it necessary to repeal the GHMC Act and replace it with a modern, comprehensive law for CURE.

The new legislation lists integrated governance and seamless administration among its core objectives, along with mechanisms for coordination between the State Government, corporations and other urban authorities. It also seeks to develop CURE as an economic driver for the State through provisions that promote ease of doing business, strengthen the fiscal health of corporations so they can discharge their functions effectively, and put in place accessible grievance redressal systems.

The Bill notes that integrated, effective and citizen-centric governance requires a context-specific institutional framework that enables coordination across authorities, clear accountability, meaningful citizen participation and a better quality of life.