Katedan Is Set for Urban Makeover Under New Land Transformation Policy

Hyderabad: The government’s latest industrial land repurposing initiative – the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation Policy (HILTP) – is poised to radically reshape Katedan Industrial Area, long known for its defunct factories and severe pollution woes.

The GO Ms No. 27, issued on November 22, permits the strategic conversion of old industrial estates within the Outer Ring Road (ORR) into multi-use urban zones.

Among the 20 listed locations, Katedan stands out for its pivotal position between the city’s central zone and the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, sitting along the PVNR Expressway corridor and Internal Ring Toad, which together give it direct access to both the ORR and airport-bound traffic flows.

Katedan developed in the 1970s as a small- and medium-scale industrial estate hosting food processing, rubber, plastic and mechanical manufacturing units. Over the past two decades, however, most of these units have fallen silent due to obsolete technology, environmental restrictions, and urban encroachment.

Official and court-linked proceedings over the last decade led to closure orders for more than 200 unauthorised, highly polluting plastic and related units in the Katedan-Shastripuram belt, with one High Court order alone covering about 195 such units, drastically shrinking the old red- and orange-category base in the estate.

As a result, a majority of the 265-acre park now houses closed or idle factories, while only a handful of small-scale units in food processing and plastic recycling remain operational, still flagged by regulators and researchers as sources of local air and groundwater contamination.

The officials foresee Katedan’s mixed-use redevelopment unlocking its potential as a prime real estate and logistics hub.

Local residents express mixed feelings. The adjacent NGO Colony resident K. Suresh, welcomed the cleaner environment prospects and says that the area has huge potential to emerge as a prime location in the city.

Anshita from TGHB Colony supported redevelopment for improved infrastructure but urges the government to push for affordable housing. Another resident Ravi sees hope in well-planned urban renewal.