Greater Bangalore Administration Act to come into effect on May 15

BBMP will be Greater Bangalore from May 15

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್ 

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will cease to exist from May 15 and will be known as ‘Greater Bangalore Area’ (GBA).

The Greater Bangalore Administration Act, 2024 cannot come into effect until BBMP is notified as GBA. The Cabinet meeting on Friday approved the implementation of this Act and the notification to expand the Greater Bangalore Area, Law Minister H.K. Patil informed a press conference.

As per Section 1 (2) of the Greater Bangalore Administration Act, 2024, the notification required to notify the Greater Bangalore Area and to implement the Act as per Section 1 (3) and to appoint an Administrator for the Municipal Corporation as per Section 131 will be issued on May 15.

The existing BBMP area will be notified first as ‘Greater Bangalore Area’. Due to the dissolution of BBMP, an Administrator will be appointed for the ‘Greater Bangalore Area’. After the appointment of the Administrator, the rules and legal provisions of the municipal corporations will be framed in accordance with the act. Rules will be implemented for the authorities functioning under the municipal corporations and duties and functions will be assigned. The Administrator can exercise all the powers as per the rules.

The Administrator who comes to power after the dissolution of BBMP should seek the direction and guidance of the government while carrying out the functions involving public interest. Article 131 states that if a question arises regarding any policy matter, the decision of the government will be final. That is, the BBMP administration will become the ‘Greater Bangalore Area’ after May 15, and the government will control everything through the Administrator.

After the enactment of the ‘Greater Bangalore Administration Act-2024’, the ‘Greater Bangalore Authority’ (GBA) headed by the Chief Minister should be formed within 120 days. The Bangalore Development Minister is the Vice-Chairman of the Authority. The MLAs-Ministers of Greater Bangalore, Urban Development Minister, Mayors of Municipal Corporations, BDA Commissioner, Bangalore Water Board Chairman, BMTC, Managing Director, BMRCL Managing Director, BESCOM Managing Director, Deputy Commissioners of Revenue Districts, Bangalore City Police Commissioner, Chief Executive Officer of Bangalore Metropolitan Road Transport Authority, Managing Director of Bangalore Solid Waste Management Limited, Director of State Fire and Emergency Services, Commissioner of Urban Road Transport Directorate, Metropolitan Commissioner of Bangalore Metropolitan Area Development Authority are the members. The Chief Commissioner of Greater Bangalore Authority is the Member Secretary.

Act: The ‘Greater Bangalore Administration Bill-2024’, which was passed in the Legislative Assembly on March 13, was sent to the Governor for his assent on March 17, 2025. The Bangalore Town Hall Organization and delegations of BJP leaders had submitted a petition to the Governor stating that the bill is against the 74th Amendment of the Constitution and will create problems similar to those that occurred during the bifurcation of the Delhi Metropolitan Corporation. They had also demanded that the bill be stayed. 

The Governor had returned the bill on March 25 saying, ‘I have examined both the petitions. This bill covers matters of legal and public interest. Therefore, clarification is required on the important issues raised in both the petitions.’ The state government had given the necessary reply to it. The Governor had given his assent to the bill on April 24. That evening itself, the ‘Greater Bangalore Administration Act-2024’ was notified and published in the Gazette.

Three Municipal Corporations!

From May 15, only the BBMP area will be called the ‘Greater Bangalore Area’, but the area will expand in the future. There is a plan to create three municipal corporations of about 125 wards each, and the boundaries of the ‘Greater Bangalore Area’ will be marked accordingly.

There is a possibility that the industrial areas around the city, including Electronic City, Attibele, Jigani Industrial Area, Bommasandra, Sarjapur, Bagalur, Rajanukunte, Hesaraghatta, Dasanapura, Makali, Tavarekere, Kumbalagoda, Kaggalipur, Harohalli, will be included in the ‘Greater Bangalore Area’.

As per the act, the names of all municipal corporations have to start with ‘Bengaluru’. They will be named ‘Bengaluru Central Municipal Corporation’, ‘Bengaluru Uttara Municipal Corporation’, ‘Bengaluru Dakshina Municipal Corporation’… It is said that three or five municipalities will be formed after the 'Greater Bengaluru Area' is expanded.