In a bid to decentralise governance and accelerate development in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday announced the creation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). Besides, five municipal corporations– Bengaluru Central, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, Bengaluru East, and Bengaluru West– have also been formed.
“Today, in 2025, the GBA has finally come into being. We have decentralised Bengaluru. This will provide good administration, bring governance closer to the people, and expedite development. We have not named any of them after individuals. While deciding the names, we firmly decided not to omit Bengaluru. We have made a provision for this in the law itself,” PTI quoted Shivakumar as saying to the reporters.
Leadership and administration
Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will be chaired by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Bengaluru district in-charge minister will serve as the vice chairperson of the authority. The GBA will oversee major projects and ensure coordination among the five corporations.
Each of the five corporations will have an IAS officer as its commissioner. Besides, the corporation will have an additional commissioner, who will also be an IAS officer.
The body will have a joint commissioner, who will be a Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer. The corporation will also have a chief engineer.
Ward and election reorganisation
As part of the ward and election reorganisation process, significant structural changes have been implemented. The number of divisions has increased from 27 to 50 and subdivisions have doubled from 75 to 150. Each municipal corporation will now have a maximum of 150 wards, with a fixed representation of 100 elected representatives per corporation, amounting to a total of 500 representatives across the five corporations.
Besides, a 50 per cent reservation for women has been mandated.
The timeline for these changes includes the final notification on ward reorganisation to be issued by November 1, followed by a Supreme Court hearing scheduled for November 3. Ward-wise reservations will be determined by November 30 and the dates for the elections will be announced subsequently by the State Election Commission once the reservation process is complete.
Revenue and finances
Under the new system, each corporation will be responsible for directly collecting its own taxes and revenue. Deputy CM Shivkumar said this move is aimed at ensuring greater financial autonomy for individual corporations.
Infrastructure and operations
New logos will be created for corporation buildings to establish a distinct and modern visual identity. Land identification processes are also underway to determine suitable locations for constructing new corporation offices.
The tenure for mayors has been set at 2 years and 6 months. Additionally, meetings of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will be held once every three months to ensure consistent oversight, planning and coordination across the region.
