Hyderabad, Feb. 10 -- Giant mounds of broken black stones and rocks, typical of the Deccan Plateau region, lie by the side of the eight-lane Nehru Outer Ring Road in Hyderabad.

The tips of tall towers that are being built and yellow construction cranes are visible from afar. Overlooking the Osman Sagar lake on one side, Neopolis in west Hyderabad, spread across over 530 acres, looks like a new city being built from scratch. Indeed, Neopolis means 'new city' in Greek.

Property agents are marketing it as Hyderabad's own Manhattan. What was just empty land on slightly hilly terrain with no signs of development till a few years ago is now a site of frenzied real estate activity: branded residences, premium offices, hotels, high-end homes, a...