Over a month after renaming Ramanagara district as Bengaluru South district, Karnataka’s cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to rename Bengaluru Rural district as Bengaluru North district.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the decision while addressing a news conference following a special cabinet meeting at Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district.
This was among the two name change proposals approved by the cabinet; the other was to rename Bagepalli in Chikkaballapura district as Chikkaballapur.
In May, the state government renamed Ramanagara district, located southwest of Bengaluru district, “to benefit from the international reputation enjoyed by Bengaluru”. This was after the Ministry of Home Affairs refused a no-objection certificate for the name change, for which the state government submitted a proposal in July 2024.
The proposal to rename Bengaluru Rural district was based on petitions from legislators representing the district, including Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa. The change was sought to attract more investors, as Bengaluru International Airport, Foxconn’s iPhone assembly plant, and several business parks are located in the district.
The cabinet also decided to rename Bengaluru University after former prime minister Manmohan Singh. During the cabinet meeting, projects worth Rs 3,000 crore were cleared.
The cabinet meeting at Nandi Hills dealt primarily with the Bengaluru division. In the last two months, cabinet meetings were held at Kalaburagi (Kalaburagi division) and MM Hills (Mysuru division). A special cabinet meeting is also scheduled at Vijayapura, to clear proposals related to the Belagavi division.