How has the Greater Bengaluru Authority fared after a year?

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) was installed at the erstwhile BBMP headquarters in Bengaluru on 3 September 2025. The GBA was established with five municipal corporations, increasing the number of constituencies from 198 to 369. | Photo credit: MURALI KUMAR K

In this six-part series, reporters from The Hindu assess the restructuring of urban governance in a city with the Greater Bengaluru Authority and five corporations, a year after the reform.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which completed a year after replacing the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with five municipal corporations, increased the number of wards from 198 to 369. But while 171 new wards were added to the civic map, there was no corresponding expansion of facilities like primary health centers (PHCs or even five local wards), even the Indira Canteen. the system was expected to bring civic services closer to residents.

Restructuring was also planned to address micro-level problems through decentralization of administration. However, the city corporations are still mostly working with the manpower deployed for the old setup of 198 wards and not yet upgraded to 369 wards. Apart from this, the vacancy rate is around 40%. This essentially means that the intended benefits of the new governance structure are yet to reach the citizens.

Residents pointed to persistent gaps in areas such as solid waste management, funding and implementation. With elections long overdue and ward councilors and committees not yet in place, many believe that the new administrative structure can only deliver on its full promise of bringing governance closer to citizens if there is a stronger mechanism of local accountability.

According to GBA sources, coordination at the highest level and frequent meetings have mainly helped to speed up the long-delayed civic works and infrastructure projects. However, problems that people face on a daily basis, such as garbage patches, waste collection, potholes and services to citizens, persist.

The new corporations had high hopes for three main sources: advertising revenue, premium FARs, and conversion of B-Khat to A-Khat. However, the new setup will enter the next year with almost unchanged revenue capacities.

Corporations are facing a shortage of staff, offices and funds, while key institutions to guide the city’s development and planning, such as the Economic Development Agency and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC), are far from functional.

Published – 05 Sep 2026 13:34 IST