Home/Corridors/HNIC/Zaheerabad NIMZ

Zaheerabad NIMZ

Under constructionTelanganaRevived as an HNIC smart city — execution phase began April 2026
12,635 acresArea
₹2,361 crTrunk-infra cost
₹10,000 crInvestment potential
1,74,000Projected jobs

Zaheerabad is the single Telangana priority node of the Hyderabad–Nagpur Industrial Corridor (HNIC), approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2024 as one of twelve NICDP greenfield cities. It is a revival: the site was notified as a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) and given final central approval back in January 2016, then languished for over a decade — making it one of the more durable land banks in the programme.

The headline scale is the 12,635-ac NIMZ across 17 villages, but the funded, under-construction project is the 3,245-ac NICDP Phase-1 activation area, costed at ₹2,361 cr with the Centre putting in ₹596 cr equity and ₹655 cr debt through NICDIT. NICDC projects ₹10,000 cr of investment and 174,000 jobs for Phase 1; the state cites ₹15,000 cr / 200,000 jobs for the NICDP city and ₹50,000 cr / 250,000 direct + 500,000 indirect jobs for the full NIMZ.

Unusually for an HNIC node, Zaheerabad already has named anchor momentum. By April 2026 the execution phase had begun — ~9,000 acres acquired, Phase-1 boundaries fixed and handed to SRR Projects — with Hyundai (675 ac, ~₹8,528 cr R&D centre), VEM Technologies (511 ac, ~₹2,200 cr defence systems) and Triton EV (~₹3,500 cr) committing over ₹14,000 cr combined. The investment figures for each anchor have risen sharply over successive reports, so they should be read as scope expansions rather than fixed numbers.

Sectors
Automobile, EVs & Li-ion batteries, defence systems, transport & electrical equipment, metals & non-metallic minerals, electronics (incl. semiconductors), food & agro-processing, pharma/biotech, logistics, green energy
Nearest hub
NH-65 (Pune–Machilipatnam) 9 km via a new 4-lane greenfield road; Bidar domestic airport 20 km; Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad) 125 km; Hyderabad 80 km; Zaheerabad town 9 km; Metalkunta railway station 1.5–12 km [D]; Machilipatnam port (proposed) 485 km; JNPT Mumbai 600 km
Developer / SPV
NICDIT Zaheerabad Industrial Smart City Ltd — 51% Telangana (TGIIC, via land) : 49% Centre (NICDIT, via cash for internal infrastructure); incorporated 2024–25 after the August 2024 Cabinet approval. The original vehicle was Zaheerabad NIMZ Limited (with L&T Infrastructure Engineering as master-plan/ESIA consultant).
EPC contractor
TGIIC invited an RFP (design–build–O&M of infrastructure works) in 2025 targeting finalisation by October 2025; execution began April 2026 with Phase-1 boundaries fixed and land handed over to SRR Projects. Infrastructure completion targeted ~1.5 years from tender award.
Status
Revived as an HNIC smart city — execution phase began April 2026

Companies & commitments

CompanySectorCommitment
Hyundai Motor CompanyAutomotive — Global Innovation R&D Centre, test track & vehicle-testing/manufacturing unit (incl. EVs)~₹8,528 cr · 675 ac — land allotted, possession taken, soil testing complete, construction underway (Apr 2026). Scope grew from 300 ac/R&D test track (Aug 2024) → 407–408 ac/~₹2,100 cr (Nov 2024) → 675 ac/~₹8,528 cr (Apr 2026) [V/D]
VEM TechnologiesDefence — integrated defence systems; precision engineering for automotive & aerospace~₹2,200+ cr · 511 ac — bhoomi puja June 2022, land allotted, under construction (earlier estimate ~₹1,000 cr) [V/D]
Triton Electric Vehicle (Triton Solar, US)EVs — semi-trucks/sedans/SUVs/rickshaws, Li-ion batteries & EV components (Yelgoi village, Jharasangam mandal)~₹3,500 cr — MoU June 2021, site visit Oct 2021, land allotted; 50,000 vehicles over 5 years, 25,000+ jobs (earlier figures ₹1,200 cr → ₹2,100 cr) [V/D]
One Moto (UK)EVs — 40,000 units/yr + Li-ion battery manufacturing~₹400 cr · 500 direct + 2,000 indirect jobs — MoU signed (by June 2022); no land allotment confirmed [V]

Industries coming up

Automotive R&D, test track & vehicle manufacturing (Hyundai)Integrated defence systems & precision engineering (VEM Technologies)EV manufacturing & Li-ion batteries (Triton, One Moto)Transport & electrical equipmentMetals & non-metallic mineralsElectronics incl. semiconductorsFood & agro-processing, pharma/biotechLogistics & green energy

Infrastructure & connectivity

Incentives & land: No node-specific framework published; standard Telangana industrial-policy incentives plus the NICDP plug-and-play model apply. Land is reported ~50% cheaper than Hyderabad Pharma City. Equal R&R compensation to assigned and registered landholders.

From a stalled NIMZ to an HNIC smart city

Zaheerabad was first announced under the National Manufacturing Policy around 2011 and formally taken up by the Centre, with final NIMZ approval granted on 22 January 2016. Progress was slow: the Expert Appraisal Committee deferred Terms of Reference in December 2017 over 13 reserve forests near the site, granted ToR on 24 January 2018, and environmental clearance followed a public hearing in January 2021. L&T Infrastructure Engineering prepared the conceptual master plan and EIA/EMP studies for the original Zaheerabad NIMZ Limited.

The August 2024 Cabinet approval folded the dormant NIMZ into the NICDP as an HNIC priority node, with a 3,245-ac Phase-1 activation area and a fresh 51:49 TGIIC–NICDIT SPV. TGIIC floated the infrastructure RFP in 2025 and the execution phase began in April 2026 — so the corridor frame finally gave a long-approved zone the central capital and SPV structure it had lacked.

Hyundai and the anchor tenants

Hyundai Motor Company is the node’s defining commitment. What began in August 2024 as a 300-ac allotment for an R&D facility and test track had, by April 2026, grown to a 675-ac, ~₹8,528 cr Global Innovation R&D Centre with test track and vehicle-manufacturing/testing — possession taken, soil testing complete at 20 locations, and construction underway. The intermediate figures (407–408 ac, ~₹2,100 cr in late 2024) confirm the scope expanded materially as the project moved toward execution.

VEM Technologies anchors the defence theme with an integrated defence-systems and precision-engineering facility on ~511 acres (bhoomi puja June 2022, under construction, ~₹2,200+ cr against an earlier ~₹1,000 cr estimate). Triton EV (a US-linked Triton Solar venture) holds allotted land at Yelgoi village for an EV and Li-ion battery plant (~₹3,500 cr, 50,000 vehicles over five years) following its 2021 MoU and site visit. One Moto, a UK EV start-up, signed a ~₹400 cr MoU by mid-2022, with no land allotment yet confirmed.

Risks & open questions

The anchor numbers are real but volatile — Hyundai’s reported land roughly doubled and its investment quadrupled across successive reports, and Triton and VEM figures have similarly risen, so each should be treated as an evolving scope rather than a fixed commitment. One Moto remains at MoU stage with no allotment.

Execution risk sits in land and master-planning: ~3,600 of 12,635 acres are still to be acquired, the detailed NICDP master plan is under preparation, and the original SPV’s precise terms are partly unconfirmed. The Metalkunta railway-station distance is reported as both 1.5 km and 12 km — a small but unresolved discrepancy in the connectivity picture.

Timeline

Sources

All HNIC nodes