India’s Union government has scrapped an ₹8,000-crore programme that aimed to incubate eight greenfield cities, according to officials in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Guidance from the Prime Minister’s Office shifted emphasis toward upgrading existing urban centres and smaller towns rather than building entirely new cities from scratch. The budgeted funds will be folded into a forthcoming scheme focused on infrastructure improvements in settlements with populations of up to 100,000. While federal planners retreat from greenfield ambitions, private developers are deepening bets on established metropolitan markets in southern India. Godrej Properties said it booked more than ₹2,000 crore of sales at the launch of its Godrej MSR City project in Bengaluru. Brigade Enterprises announced Brigade Morgan Heights in Chennai, a residential development with a gross development value of roughly ₹2,100 crore and 2.2 million square feet of potential. Separately, Embassy Development signed a joint development agreement covering 17.9 acres in Bengaluru, pegging the project’s GDV at about ₹1,600 crore. The contrasting moves highlight a policy-industry pivot: the Centre is redirecting resources toward densifying and modernising existing cities, while real-estate companies accelerate large-scale housing projects in those very urban corridors.