The ''classification of Indian cities'' is a ranking system used by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

to allocate House Rent Allowance (HRA) to public servants employed in cities in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. HRA is also used by the

Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is a civil service that is primarily responsible for tax collection, collecting and administering Direct tax, direct and indir ...

(IRS) to provide

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

exemptions. Cities are classified on the basis of their population, as recommended by the Sixth Central Pay Finance. Under the latest HRA city ranking scheme, most popular media and culture considers only Tier-X cities to be metropolitan in nature. These eight cities are considered India's "metros".

Current classification

Under the recommendation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission, the CCA classification was abolished in 2008. The earlier HRA classification of cities was changed from A-1 to X; A, B-1, and B-2 to Y; and C and unclassified cities to Z. X, Y, and Z are more commonly known as Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities, respectively. There are eight X cities and ninety-seven Y cities. On the basis of the 2011 census, two cities —

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

— were upgraded from Y to X and twenty one cities from Z to Y on 1 April 2014.

Historical classification

The cities were classified as follows before the Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendations were followed in 2008. This classification was initially based on the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission of India in 1997. New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai were classified as A-1 cities. City statuses were later revised based on the results of the 2001

Census of India The decennial census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1872. Post 1949, it has been conducted by the R ...

. Hyderabad was upgraded from A to A-1 status on 31 August 2007, and the same with Bangalore on 21 September 2007. The CCA classification was abolished in 2008. Under the older HRA classification, most popular media and culture considered only A-1 cities to be metropolitan in nature, therefore India's "metros".

Population-based classification

The

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

(RBI) classifies centres into six tiers based on population. The tables below show the classification.

References

{{reflist Geographic classifications Lists of cities in India fr:Villes de l'Inde

Current classification

Historical classification

Population-based classification

See also

References