Greater Bengaluru Expansion on Hold: Govt Pauses Plan to Enlarge Civic Limits

The Karnataka government is expected to pause the plan to expand Bengaluru’s civic boundaries to over 1,000 sq km by integrating outlying villages into the newly proposed Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). Instead, it will maintain the current Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits of 709 sq km, as per sources ahead of a key cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday.

The cabinet is likely to deliberate on the implementation timeline of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act-2024, which was officially notified on April 24. Although many villages on the city’s outskirts had shown willingness to join the urban governance framework, the expansion is being deferred for now.

The BBMP Restructuring Committee, led by MLA Rizwan Arshad, had earlier proposed a much broader jurisdiction of 1,307 sq km, which included BBMP and BDA areas. However, in its latest report, the committee avoided specifying boundaries, instead recommending the creation of multiple city corporations to enhance governance.

This uncertainty has already impacted the real estate market, with land values surging in peripheral areas in anticipation of inclusion. For now, the government plans to restrict GBA’s jurisdiction to existing BBMP areas, with possible future inclusion of gram panchayats and towns.

The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act envisions a three-tier structure—GBA, city corporations, and ward committees—with a provision to create up to seven city corporations. However, opposition parties have criticized it as a move to centralize authority and influence civic polls.

While the Congress promises elections under the new structure by year-end, BJP is exploring legal routes to challenge the GBA and conduct elections under the current BBMP Act.

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