Explained: Bengaluru’s Split Into Five New Civic Corporations

In a landmark step toward reshaping Bengaluru’s civic administration, the Karnataka government has unveiled its plan to divide the city into five independent municipal corporations under a new governing body, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). The move, formalised through a draft notification issued in July 2025, marks one of the biggest overhauls in the city’s administrative history.

For decades, Bengaluru’s governance has been managed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), a single, sprawling civic body responsible for everything from roads and drains to waste management and property tax collection. But with the city now home to over 1.3 crore people, that model has started to buckle under pressure.

The government’s answer is decentralisation. By replacing the BBMP with five smaller corporations  - Bengaluru Central, East, West, South, and North, officials hope to make governance faster, more responsive, and more locally attuned.

Why Bengaluru Needed a Reboot

For years, the BBMP has struggled to keep pace with Bengaluru’s explosive growth. The city’s peripheries have expanded far beyond its administrative reach, and public services often lag behind demand. Projects take time to move through the bureaucracy of a single monolithic body.

“The city has simply outgrown its old governance structure,” says an urban development official familiar with the plan. “Dividing responsibilities is the only way to improve efficiency.”

By creating smaller, more manageable corporations, the government aims to give each region greater administrative focus. In simple terms, issues in Whitefield won’t be treated the same as those in Rajajinagar, each area can now respond to its unique challenges with tailored solutions.

The Big Five

Here’s how Bengaluru’s civic map will now be redrawn:

• Bengaluru Central Corporation: Covering 78 sq. km with a population of 2.5 million, this zone includes areas like Shivaji Nagar, CV Raman Nagar, Chamrajpet, and Shanti Nagar.
• Bengaluru East Corporation: Spanning 168 sq. km, it encompasses KR Puram and Mahadevapura, key tech and residential hubs.
• Bengaluru North Corporation: With 3.1 million residents, it includes Yelahanka, Hebbal, and Byatarayanapura — areas seeing rapid infrastructure growth.
• Bengaluru South Corporation: Covering 147 sq. km and 3 million people, it will manage major residential zones such as Jayanagar, BTM Layout, and Bommanahalli.
• Bengaluru West Corporation: The most populous, with 4.5 million residents across 161 sq. km, includes Rajajinagar, Vijayanagar, and Basavanagudi.

Each will have its own mayor, council, commissioner, and administrative team, responsible for local projects, tax collection, and service delivery.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority

Overseeing these five corporations will be the proposed Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), a central coordinating body designed to ensure consistency in citywide planning, infrastructure, and policy. The GBA will handle cross-regional issues such as traffic management, pollution control, and large-scale infrastructure corridors.

This structure mirrors governance models seen in cities like London and New York, where multiple boroughs or districts operate under a unified metropolitan framework.

The idea is to combine local flexibility with central oversight, a “many hands, one vision” approach to city management.

Political and Public Reactions

Unsurprisingly, the move has stirred political debate. Supporters hail it as a much-needed reform that will cut red tape and improve responsiveness. “It’s a structural solution to a structural problem,” said a senior official from the state’s Urban Development Department.

Opposition leaders, however, have raised concerns about potential overlaps in jurisdiction, the risk of increased bureaucracy, and possible delays during the transition. Some civic activists also worry about how funds and responsibilities will be distributed across the new corporations.

The government has invited public feedback before finalising the notification, encouraging residents and civic bodies to submit suggestions. Officials believe this consultation phase will help smooth out concerns and fine-tune the new administrative boundaries.

What It Means for Citizens

For Bengalureans, the immediate impact will likely be felt in how quickly and effectively civic issues are resolved. Under the BBMP, citizens often faced long delays as complaints and projects wound through layers of hierarchy.

With smaller corporations, residents could see faster responses and better accountability. Local projects—be it road repairs, drainage work, or waste collection—can now be managed closer to the ground.

But the shift may also bring some initial confusion: new points of contact, separate helplines, and unfamiliar administrative setups. Coordination among the five corporations will be crucial to prevent fragmentation or uneven development.

The Challenges Ahead

While the plan sounds promising on paper, execution will determine its success. Creating new corporations means redistributing staff, budgets, and assets, which could pose logistical challenges.

Urban planners caution that decentralisation alone won’t solve Bengaluru’s civic woes unless it’s backed by robust capacity building, clear accountability, and citizen engagement. Without coordination, issues like traffic, flooding, and pollution could easily spill across corporation boundaries.

The government will also need to ensure that the GBA has enough authority to enforce citywide planning and prevent policy duplication.

A City in Transition

Bengaluru has long been a city of contrasts, a global tech powerhouse wrapped in crumbling infrastructure. From potholes and garbage woes to water scarcity, the city’s civic challenges have grown as fast as its skyline.

Now, the government hopes this five-corporation model will give Bengaluru a new civic rhythm, one that matches its pace of growth and complexity.

Whether it succeeds will depend on how well these five new bodies function together. If decentralisation leads to quicker problem-solving, stronger accountability, and visible results, it could set a new model for urban governance across India.