New Delhi: West Bengal is set to get five new districts—Kolkata, Sundarbans, Arambagh, Jangipur and Basirhat, state finance minister Swapan Dasgupta announced Monday while presenting the first full budget (2026-27) of the new BJP government.
With this, the total number of districts in the state will increase to 28 from the existing 23. While Kolkata will become a full-fledged revenue district with a district magistrate, the four other districts will be carved out from existing districts. Basirhat will be carved out of North 24 Parganas, Sunderbans from South 24 Parganas, Jangipur from Murshidabad and Arambag from Hooghly.
“As part of administrative reforms to decentralise administration, improve public service delivery and bring governance closer to people, new districts, sub-divisions, municipalities and fire brigade stations will be set up,” Dasgupta said while presenting his maiden budget in the West Bengal assembly.
Besides five new districts, Dasgupta also announced the setting up of a new police district of Kanthi, a new sub-division of Gopiballabpur and nine new municipalities, including Shiv Mandir, Gazole, Chanchal, Belda, Bagnan and Jaigaon.
“As part of administrative reforms to decentralise administration, improve public service delivery and bring governance closer to people, new districts, sub-divisions, municipalities and fire brigade stations will be set up,” Dasgupta said while presenting his maiden budget in the West Bengal assembly.
ThePrint had Sunday reported why West Bengal needs more that 23 districts.
There has long been a pitch for West Bengal to have more districts. India’s fourth most populous state currently has just 23 districts, administering a population of over 9 crore. According to the 2011 Census data, West Bengal has an average of about 39.7 lakh people per district, one of the highest district-level population averages among India’s major states.
In Bengal, seven districts—Hooghly, East Medinipur, West Medinipur, Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas—have a population of more than 50 lakh each as per Census 2011.
North 24 Parganas, from which Basirhat will be carved out, is geographically huge. It has an area of 4,094 square kilometers and a population of over one crore.
Similarly, South 24 Parganas from which the new district of Sunderbans will be carved out, is spread over 9,960 sq km and has a total population of more than 81 lakh. Murshidabad, from which Jangipur will be created as a separate district, has a total area of 5,324 sq km, and a population of over 71 lakh.
Hooghly, from which Arambagh will be created, has a total area of 3,149 sq km and has a population of 55 lakh.
Basudeb Banerjee, retired West Bengal chief secretary, welcomed the decision. “Some of the existing districts are huge—both geographically and population-wise. Such big districts make it difficult to administer and provide services to people,” he told ThePrint Monday.
Banerjee said that in the case of Kolkata, the issue was different. “Kolkata was a special case. So far, it has been a police district, not a revenue district. It does not have a district magistrate. Because Kolkata has a police commissionerate, the police commissioner is entrusted with powers of an executive magistrate,” Banerjee said.
West Bengal has a concept of police districts because of the humongous size of its districts. “In a district, you can have two or three police districts. Each of them is headed by a Superintendent of Police and has different jurisdictions,” said a senior West Bengal government official, who did not want to be named, adding that this has been done to maintain law and order in geographically large areas.
The previous Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee had also created five new districts during the 15 years it was in power. While Alipurduar was made a district in June 2014, Kalimpong, Jhargram, East Bardhaman and West Bardhaman were carved out in April 2017, taking the total number in the state to 23.
Mamata Banerjee had proposed creating seven more districts in 2022, but it remained on paper.
Comparing West Bengal with some of the other populous states of India also puts things in context.
India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has about 19.98 crore people spread across its 75 districts, with an average population of about 26.6 lakh in each.
Bihar, which has a population of 10.4 crore, has 38 districts, bringing the average population per district to around 27 lakh.
Rajasthan, with a population of 6.8 crore, has 41 districts. Madhya Pradesh, with 7.2 crore people, has 55, catering to roughly 13 lakh people per district. Odisha, with 4.2 crore people, has 30 districts, or about 14 lakh people per district.
For Bengal, creating new districts will entail not only more finances but also requisite infrastructure and recruitment of personnel. Administrative offices, courts and police establishments will also have to be set up.
A senior West Bengal government official, who did not want to be named, said, “Now that an announcement has been made, the state government will provide the funds required for creating the necessary infrastructure.”
(Edited by Viny Mishra)