Classification of Indian cities

City ranking system used in India

The classification of Indian cities is a ranking system used by the Government of India to allocate House Rent Allowance (HRA) to public servants employed in cities in India. HRA is also used by the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) to provide income tax exemptions. Cities are classified on the basis of their population, as recommended by the Sixth Central Pay Finance.[1] 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

[edit]

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.[2][3][4] 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 and Ahmedabad — were upgraded from Y to X and twenty one cities from Z to Y on 1 April 2014.[5][6][7]

HRA classification | City

|

X  | Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune
Y |

Agra, Ajmer, Akola, Aligarh, Amravati, Amritsar, Anand, Asansol, Aurangabad, Bareilly, Bardhaman, Belagavi, Berhampur, Bhavnagar, Bhiwandi, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Bikaner, Bilaspur, Bokaro Steel City, Bellary, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Dahod, Dehradun, Dhule, Dombivli, Dhanbad, Bhilai, Durgapur, Erode, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Guntur, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hamirpur, Hubballi–Dharwad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Jalgaon, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Jamnagar, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Kalaburagi, Kakinada, Kannur, Kanpur, karimnagar, Karnal, Kochi, Kolhapur, Kollam, Kota, Kozhikode, Kumbakonam, Kurnool, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Madurai, Mathura, Mangaluru, Meerut, Mohali, Moradabad, Mysuru, Nagpur, Nanded, Nadiad, Nashik, Nellore, Noida, Patna, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Puducherry, Purulia, Prayagraj, Raipur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rourkela, Ratlam,Raichur,Saharanpur, Salem, Sangli, Shimla, Siliguri, Solapur, Srinagar, Surat, Thanjavur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, Ujjain, Vijayapura, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vasai-Virar, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Vellore and Warangal.

Z | All other cities and Towns

## Historical classification

[edit]

The cities were classified as follows before the Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendations were followed in 2008.[8] This classification was initially based on the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission of India in 1997.[8] New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai were classified as A-1 cities.[9] City statuses were later revised based on the results of the 2001 Census of India.[8] Hyderabad was upgraded from A to A-1 status on 31 August 2007, and the same with Bangalore on 21 September 2007.[9] 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".

CCA classification | HRA classification | City

|
|

A-1 | A-1 | Delhi
A-1 | A-1 | Mumbai
A-1 | A-1 | Kolkata
A-1 | A-1 | Chennai
A-1 | A-1[9] | Bengaluru
A-1 | A-1[10] | Hyderabad
A | A | Ahmedabad
A | A |

Indore

A | A | Vadodara
A | A | Surat
A | A | Jaipur
A | A | Kota
A | A | Lucknow
A | A | Kanpur
A | A | Pune
A | A | Thrissur
A | A | Coimbatore
A | A | Nagpur
A | A | Nadiad
A | A | Patna
A | A | Visakhapatnam
A | A | Bhopal
A | A | Nashik
A | A | Jabalpur
A | A | Gandhinagar
B-1 | B-1 | Madurai[8]
B-1 | B-1 | Aligarh
B-1 | B-1 | Kochi[8]
B-1 | B-1 | Vijayawada
B-1 | B-1 | Tiruchirappalli
B-1 | B-1 | Gwalior
B-1 | B-1 | Rajkot
B-1 | B-1 | Solapur
B-1 | B-1 | Anand
B-1 | B-1 | Ludhiana
B-1 | B-1 | Agra
B-1 | B-1 | Meerut
B-1 | B-2 | Thiruvananthapuram
B-1 | B-2 | Kozhikode
B-1 | B-2 | Faridabad
B-1 | B-2 | Varanasi
B-1 | B-2 | Jamshedpur
B-1 | B-2 | Prayagraj
B-1 | B-2 | Amritsar
B-1 | B-2 | Dhanbad
B-2 | B-2 | Gorakhpur
B-2 | B-2 | Hubballi-Dharwad
B-2 | B-2 | Bhavnagar
B-2 | B-2 | Raipur
B-2 | B-2 | Bellary
B-2 | B-2 | Mysuru
B-2 | B-2 | Mangaluru
B-2 | B-2 | Guntur
B-2 | B-2 | Bhubaneswar
B-2 | B-2 | Amravati
B-2 | B-2 | Srinagar
B-2 | B-2 | Bhilai
B-2 | B-2 | Warangal
B-2 | B-2 | Tirunelveli
B-2 | B-2 | Nellore
B-2 | B-2 | Ranchi
B-2 | B-2 | Guwahati
B-2 | B-2 | Aurangabad
B-2 | B-2 | Chandigarh
B-2 | B-2 | Mohali
B-2 | B-2 | Patiala
B-2 | B-2 | Jodhpur
B-2 | B-2 | Puducherry
B-2 | B-2 | Salem
B-2 | B-2 | Vellore
B-2 | C | Dehradun
B-2 | C | Hajipur
B-2 | C | Kollam
B-2 | C | Sangli
B-2 | C | Jamnagar
B-2 | C | Jammu
B-2 | C | Kurnool
B-2 | C | Roorkee
B-2 | C | Kannur
B-2 | C | Thanjavur
B-2 | C | Etawah

## Population-based classification

[edit]

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) classifies centres into six tiers based on population.[11] The tables below show the classification.

Classification of centres (tier-wise)  Population classification | Population (2001 Census)

|

Tier-1 | 100,000 and above
Tier-2 | 50,000 to 99,999
Tier-3 | 20,000 to 49,999
Tier-4 | 10,000 to 19,999
Tier-5 | 5,000 to 9,999
Tier-6 | less than 5,000
Population-group wise classification of centres  Population classification | Population (2001 Census)

|

Rural centre | up to 9,999
Semi-urban centre | 10,000 to 99,999
Urban centre | 100,000 to 999,999
Metropolitan centre | 1,000,000 and above

## See also

[edit]

* List of cities in India
* List of million-plus agglomerations in India
* Renaming of cities in India

## References

[edit]

1. ^ accessdate=13 January 2013 [clarification needed]
2. ^ "Classification of Indian Cities, Office Memorandum, Government of India" (PDF). doe.gov.in.
3. ^ "Recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission – Decision of Government relating to grant of Dearness Allowance to Central Government servants" (PDF). Ministry of Finance Department of Expenditure. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
4. ^ "THE ALL INDIA SERVICES (HOUSE RENT ALLOWANCE) RULES". Chhattisgarh State Government. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
5. ^ "Sixth Central Pay Commission Classification of Cities" (PDF). Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
6. ^ "Government upgrades 29 cities, towns for HRA, transport allowance | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". Retrieved 12 June 2015.
7. ^ "Revised List of Classification Cities for HRA of central government employees". Govt. Employees India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
8. ^ a b c d e "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2017.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. ^ a b c "Bangalore gets A1 status". Business Standard. 25 September 2007.
10. ^ Upgradation of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation as A-1 class city for the purpose of House Rent Allowance/Compensatory (City) Allowance" Archived 8 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Department of Expenditure. Ministry of Finance. 10 October. 2007
11. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)