The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) of Bangalore, India, is a governmental organization (referred to within India as a parastatal entity) and the principal planning authority for Bangalore. Its function, under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act of 1961, is as a regulatory body required “to prepare in the prescribed manner a Comprehensive Development Plan” for the Bangalore Metropolitan Region. It also oversees planning and development of infrastructure, provision of development-related sites and services, the housing needs of underprivileged citizens in Bangalore and is currently the city’s largest land developer. No other authority or person may undertake development within the Bangalore Metropolitan Region without the permission of the BDA.

BDA was created on 6 January 1976 under the Bangalore Development Authority Act 1976 superseding the earlier civic authority known as the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB), but remaining nearly identical in function. The First erstwhile Chairman of BDA was Shri B.T.Somanna. The BDA is a largely unelected local authority (2 out of 23 members are elected BBMP corporators) with most of its members accountable to, and directly appointed by the state government. This creates issues with local representation, particularly since the passage of the Constitution (74th) Amendment Act, 1992 mandating the devolution of planning powers to local, elected authorities.

Despite being the principle planning authority, up to 90% of new residential layouts on the Bangalore periphery do not have formal approval from the BDA. Over time, these layouts tend to be regularised by successive state governments, however they exhibit all of the issues associated with ad hoc residential development including irregular road layouts, boundary encroachments and lack of provision for essential services and infrastructure.

Corruption has always been an issue within the BDA, with one particularly notorious scandal being the illegal sale of up to 200 sites in 1995 by corrupt BDA officials. In the 1990s the BDA came under sustained criticism including the Public Affairs Center’s 1993 report cards on BDA performance; the CUMB Report of 1997 which examined the role and function of the BDA and concluded that the organization had outlived its mandate, was failing as a development authority and should be disbanded; and a 1999 report by the World Bank which labelled it one of the most corrupt and inefficient institutions in the city. The same report also reported on the findings of a citizen survey which found 65% of Bengalureans dissatisfied with their experience dealing with the BDA, and just 1% satisfied—the lowest of any civic agency in the city. It was also receiving the highest share of bribes (33%) in exchange for expediting service outcomes.

The BDA is credited with responding to these findings with some reforms in operational management and asset monitoring and accounting practices leading to a substantial increase in residential layout development and allocation.

In 2008 the Kasturirangan Report reaffirmed that as both developer and land regulator, the BDA has neglected its regulatory role, but gained some additional credibility through the successful delivery of major infrastructure projects including the Outer Ring Road, and various flyovers and underpasses throughout the city. The report recommended land regulation responsibilities be handed over to other municipal bodies such as the BBMP with the BDA focusing on its function as a development body.

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