Contents

Administrative divisions of India

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve itbyverifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (August 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of India
Constitution and law Constitution of India Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of India Human rights Judicial review Taxation Uniform Civil Code Basic structure doctrine Amendment Law of India Indian criminal law Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam Code of Civil Procedure (India)
Government President of India Droupadi Murmu Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (BJP) Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba (IAS) Union Council of Ministries List of ministers Government Departments List of secretaries
Parliament Parliament of India Lok Sabha Speaker Vacant Deputy Speaker Vacant Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh (IAS) House Leader Narendra Modi (BJP) Opposition Leader Vacant Members of Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar Deputy Speaker Harivansh Narayan Singh Secretary General Pramod Chandra Mody House Leader Vacant Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge (INC) Members of Rajya Sabha Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju
Judiciary Supreme Court of India Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud Judges of the Supreme Court (List) Secretary General of Supreme Court Atul M. Kurhekar Supreme Court Bar Association District Courts High Courts Lok Adalat Gram Nyayalayas Nyaya panchayat Other tribunals Ministry of Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal Law Commission of India Bar Council of India Attorney-General R. Venkataramani Solicitor General Tushar Mehta Additional Solicitor General of India National Legal Services Authority Pendency of court cases in India National Judicial Appointments Commission
Elections and political parties Presidential elections 2022 2017 2012 Vice Presidential elections 2022 2017 2012 Lok Sabha Election (General elections) 2014 2019 2024 Parliamentary constituencies Rajya Sabha Election 2024 2023 2022 Seats of State of Council State Assembly elections 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Political parties National coalitions National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) National parties State parties Electoral College (India) Election Commission of India State election commission (India)
Administrative divisions States Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Union territories Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Delhi Jammu and Kashmir Ladakh Lakshadweep Puducherry Capitals of State and Union Territory Divisions Districts Sub-Districts Community development block Autonomous administrative divisions Proposed states and union territories
Federalism Executive Governors (List) Lieutenant governor and administrators(List) Chief minister(List) Deputy chief ministers(List) Ministries of All State and U.T. governments Legislative State legislative councils State legislative assemblies Speakers(List) Official Opposition(List) Judiciary High Courts Chief justices of High courts Judges of high courts Local government District court(List)
Foreign relations Ministry of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra (IFrS) Diplomatic missions of / in India Ambassadors and High Commissioners of India / to India Foreign aid by India / to India Passports Nationality law Extradition Treaties Visa requirements Visa policy India and the United Nations India and the Non-Aligned Movement India and the Commonwealth 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue QUAD United Nations Security Council G4 Russia China United States Japan Canada United Kingdom Arabia Persia(Iran) Indo-European Union India–Pacific Islands Indo-Africa (India–Africa Forum Summit) India-Latin America MGC BBIN BRICS BIMSTEC SAARC SCO G20 IBSA East Asia Summit Indian Ocean Naval Symposium Indian Ocean Rim Association History Sanctions Indian diaspora Overseas citizens Policy Of India ITEC programme Look East policy Pan-African e-Network project Indira Gandhi government Narendra Modi government Asian Middle Eastern South Asian Act East) Kashmir conflict Siachen conflict Conflicts with Pakistan Disputes with China Disputes with Nepal State visits to India State visits by prime ministers of India Jawaharlal Nehru Indira Gandhi Atal Bihari Vajpayee Manmohan Singh Narendra Modi
India portal Other countries
v t e

The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions.

Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level of subdivision (e.g., the mandalsofAndhra Pradesh and Telangana correspond to tehsilsofUttar Pradesh and other Hindi-speaking states but to talukasofGujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu).^[1]

The smaller subdivisions (villages and blocks) exist only in rural areas. In urban areas, urban local bodies exist instead of these rural subdivisions.

Tiers of India[edit]

The diagram below outlines the six tiers of administrative divisions:

Zones and regions[edit]

Zones[edit]

The states of India have been grouped into six zones having an Advisory Council "to develop the habit of cooperative working" among these States. Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The North Eastern States' special problems are addressed by another statutory body - The North Eastern Council, created by the North Eastern Council Act, 1971.^[2] The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under:^[3]

• Northern Zonal Council, comprising Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, and Rajasthan;
• North Eastern Council, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura; The State of Sikkim has also been included in the North Eastern Council vide North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act, 2002 notified on 23 December 2002.^[4]
• Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh;
• Eastern Zonal Council, comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal;
• Western Zonal Council, comprising Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra;
• Southern Zonal Council, comprising Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep are not members of any of the Zonal Councils.^[5] However, they are presently special invitees to the Southern Zonal Council^[6]

Cultural zones[edit]

Each zone has a zonal headquarters where a zonal cultural center has been established.^[7] Several states have membership in multiple zones, but no state subdivisions are utilized in the zonal divisions. In addition to promoting the culture of the zones they are responsible for, each zonal center also works to cross-promote and create exposure to other cultural zones of India by organizing functions and inviting artistes from other zones.

Nagpur

States and union territories[edit]

India is composed of 28 states and eight union territories (including a national capital territory).^[15]

States[edit]

Union territories[edit]

Autonomous administrative divisions[edit]

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states.^[50]

Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule^[51] with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.

Autonomous district councils operating under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India are shown in bold.

Divisions[edit]

Many of the Indian states are subdivided into divisions, which have official administrative governmental status, and each division is headed by a senior IAS officer called Divisional Commissioner.

States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, etc. don't have separate divisions or regions. Instead, they're directly split into districts for administrative purposes.

As of September 2022, divisions exist in 18 of the 28 states and 3 of the 8 union territories. As of September 2022, there are a total of 102 divisions in India.

Regions within states[edit]

Some states consist of regions, which have no official administrative governmental status. They are purely geographic regions; some correspond to historic countries, states or provinces. A region may comprise one or more divisions, averaging about three divisions per region. However, the boundaries of the regions and the boundaries of the divisions do not always coincide exactly. So far there has been no movement to give the regions official administrative status. If this was to be done, it would presumably require that the boundaries of the regions be slightly modified so that they correspond exactly with their constituent districts.

• Regions of Assam
• Regions of Gujarat
• Regions of Maharashtra

Districts[edit]

States and territories (or divisions) are further subdivided into districts (zilla), of which there are 797 (as of Nov 2023). A district in India, officially referred to as a revenue district, is a basic administrative unit under a state or union territory. Each District is headed by an IAS officer called District Magistrate.

Subdistricts[edit]

In some instances, tehsils (sub-districts) overlap with "blocks" (panchayat union blocks or community development blocks) and come under the land and revenue department, headed by tehsildar; and blocks come under the rural development department, headed by the block development officer and serve different government administrative functions over the same or similar geographical area.

States use varying names for their sub-districts. Detailed information is as follows (as of 2018):^[54]

Rural level[edit]

Blocks[edit]

The Community Development Block also known as CD Block or just block, is often the next level of administrative division (for development purposes, whereas tehsil is next to the district for revenue purposes).

Villages[edit]

Villages are often the lowest level of subdivisions in India. The governmental bodies at the village level are called Gram Panchayat, of which there were an estimated 256,000 in 2002. Each Gram Panchayat covers a large village or a cluster of smaller villages with a combined population exceeding 500 Gram Sabha. Clusters of villages are also sometimes called Hobli or Patti.

Habitations[edit]

Certain governmental functions and activities - including clean water availability, rural development, and education - are tracked at a sub-village level.^[63] These hamlets are termed "habitations". India is composed of 1,714,556 habitations ^[64] In some states, most villages have a single habitation; in others (notably Kerala and Tripura) there is a high ratio of habitations to villages.^[65]

Metropolitan area[edit]

A metro area usually comprises multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighbourhoods, townships, cities, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts, states, and even nations like the eurodistricts. As social, economic, and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. Metropolitan areas include one or more urban areas, as well as satellite cities, towns, and intervening rural areas that are socio-economically tied to the urban core, typically measured by commuting patterns.

The metropolitan cities of India are: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Ahmedabad.

Historical administrative divisions[edit]

• Chakla
• Pargana
• Sarkar
• Subah

See also[edit]

• Autonomous administrative divisions of India
• Cultural Zones of India
• States and union territories of India

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• CityMayors.com