Bihar is administratively divided into 9 divisions and 38 districts. For the administration of urban areas, three types of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) has been constituted as per the provisions of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act,1992. As of 2026, Bihar has 264 ULBs consisting of 19 municipal corporations, 90 nagar parishads (city councils), and 157 nagar panchayats (town councils).
+Administrative Division in DetailsDivisions9Districts38Subdivisions101Blocks534Cities and towns264Municipal Corporations 19Nagar Parishads 90Nagar Panchayats157Panchayats8,406Villages45,103Police districts43Police stations853
Urban Local Governance As per Census 2011, Bihar is the second least urbanised state in the country, with a rate of urbanisation of 11.3%, as compared to the national rate of 31.16%. The state has 139 StatutoryTowns and 60 Census Towns.
For the administration of the urban areas, Bihar has 19 municipal corporations, 88 nagar parishads (city councils), and 154 nagar panchayats (town councils). Bihar has one municipal act to establish and govern all municipalities in the state: Bihar Municipal Act, 2007.
As per a 2017 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Bihar carry out 12 out of 18 functions, and the remaining 6 are carried out by Bihar state government departments. The Fifth Bihar State Finance Commission report states that the ULB funds are ‘grossly inadequate for their assigned functions, they are unable to utilize even that’.
The Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 creates the following categories of urban areas based on their population. All three types of urban areas must have at least 75% of their population engaged in non-agricultural work. Types of Urban Areas according to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007TypePopulation CriteriaType of Local BodyCityLarger urban area: 2 lakh or moreMunicipal CorporationTownMedium urban area: 40 thousand or more but less than 2 lakhMunicipal CouncilSmall Town or Transitional Area12 thousand and more
but less than 40 thousandNagar Panchayat Further, depending on the population size, the Act prescribes the minimum and maximum number of councillors/wards allowed within each type of local government. Minimum and Maximum number of Councillors/Wards Allowed according to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007Population RangeMinimumIncremental NumberMaximumMunicipal CorporationsAbove 10 lakh67One additional Councillor for every 75,000 above 10
lakh 75Above 5 lakh up to 10 lakh 57One additional Councillor for every 50,000 above 5
lakh67Above 2 lakh up to 5 lakh 45One additional Councillor for every 25,000 above 2
lakh 57Municipal CouncilClass 'A' Municipal Council 42One additional Councillor for every 15,000 above
1,50,00045Class 'B' Municipal Council 37One additional Councillor for every 10,000 above 1
lakh42Class 'C' Municipal Council 25One additional Councillor for every 5,000 above
40, 00037Nagar Panchayat Nagar Panchayat 10One additional Member for every 2,000 above 12,000 25 The Act mentions the following key positions as well as committees for ULBs: Elected Officials Administrative Officials CommitteesCouncillor, Chief Councillor, Deputy Chief CouncillorMunicipal Commissioner, Controller of Municipal Finances and Accounts, Municipal Internal Auditor, Chief Municipal Engineer, Municipal Architect and Town Planner, Chief Municipal Health Officer, Municipal Law Officer, Municipal Secretary, three Additional Municipal commissioners
Such number of Joint Municipal Commissioners or Deputy Municipal Commissioners or Deputy Chief Municipal Engineers as the Empowered Standing Committee may, from time to time, determine,Empowered Standing Committee, Joint Committee, Municipal Accounts Committee, Subject Committee, Ward Committee, Wards Committee Ward Committees Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 mandates the establishment of Ward Committees through the Bihar Urban Local Body (Community Participation) Rules, 2013. Section 31 of the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 mandates the establishment of Ward Committees for each ward of a municipality. The ward level elected councillor would be the chairperson of their respective Ward Committee. Up to 10 representatives from the civil society belonging to the ward would be nominated into the committee by the ULB.
Even though the creation of ward committees is mandated in municipalities, they have not been formed in Bihar.
Municipal Corporations There are 19 Municipal Corporations in Bihar. #Corporation NameCityDistrictArea (km2)Population (2011)No. of WardsYear EstablishedLast ElectionRuling PartyWebsite1 Arrah Municipal CorporationArrahBhojpur30.97261,43045200720222Begusarai Municipal CorporationBegusaraiBegusarai252,00845201020223Bettiah Municipal CorporationBettiahWest Champaran11.63237,25446202020224Bhagalpur Municipal CorporationBhagalpurBhagalpur30.17400,14651198120225Bihar Sharif Municipal CorporationBihar SharifNalanda23.50337,81951200720226Chhapra Municipal CorporationChhapraSaran16.96202,35245201720227Darbhanga Municipal CorporationDarbhangaDarbhanga19.18296,03948198220228Gaya Municipal CorporationGayaGaya50.17474,09353198320229Katihar Municipal CorporationKatiharKatihar33.46240,838452009202210Madhubani Municipal CorporationMadhubani, IndiaMadhubani46.56164,156452020 202311Motihari Municipal CorporationMotihariEast Champaran222,646462020202212Munger Municipal CorporationMungerMunger213,303452009202213Muzaffarpur Municipal CorporationMuzaffarpurMuzaffarpur32.00354,462491981202214Patna Municipal CorporationPatnaPatna108.871,684,222751952202215Purnia Municipal CorporationPurniaPurnia282,248462009202216Saharsa Municipal CorporationSaharsaSaharsa216,491462021 202317Samastipur Municipal CorporationSamastipurSamastipur253,136472020202218Sasaram Municipal CorporationSasaramRohtas264,709482020202219Sitamarhi Municipal CorporationSitamarhiSitamarhi66.1967,8184620212022</onlyinclude> Nagar Parishads