The Kerala government has finalised the composition of the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) for Kochi.
However, the absence of a corresponding Metropolitan Development Authority (MDA) has drawn concern from planning experts and civic stakeholders who fear that without executive power, the committee’s role may be rendered largely symbolic. The MPC, which is mandated by the 74th Constitutional Amendment to prepare a development plan for the metropolitan region, will include 10 elected representatives from local self-governments across the re-notified Kochi metropolitan area. The new jurisdiction encompasses Kochi Corporation, nine municipalities, and 29 panchayats, bringing together a patchwork of governance layers into a single planning framework.
According to officials in the local self-government department, the 10 members will be selected from elected councillors and panchayat presidents, with due consideration for population-based representation and social equity. Half of the seats are reserved for women, and one position will be held by a member of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes community. The composition reflects a deliberate attempt to ensure gender-balanced and inclusive representation in the metropolitan planning process. The selection process will group the 74 divisions of the Kochi Corporation into four segments, each selecting one representative. Similarly, the nine municipalities will be divided into two clusters, and the 29 panchayats into four. This ensures proportional representation across the metropolitan span, offering smaller civic bodies a voice in shaping the city-region’s future.
Despite the structural progress, the decision to proceed with the MPC without a functioning metropolitan development authority has triggered scepticism. Experts warn that the absence of an MDA — an empowered agency responsible for implementing the MPC’s proposals — leaves the committee toothless in enforcing its decisions. “Planning without execution is just paperwork,” said a senior urban policy expert involved in state planning. “The MPC is a constitutional body, but it cannot translate its recommendations into reality without institutional mechanisms to back it.” The urgency of the matter stems from a 2023 High Court directive instructing the state to constitute the MPC following a public interest petition. The government responded by fast-tracking the formation of the committee and even included Kochi in the 2025–26 state budget among the three cities where MPCs would be activated. However, the complementary authority to operationalise its vision — the MDA — remains elusive.
This implementation vacuum is especially concerning given Kochi’s complex urban challenges, ranging from congestion and environmental degradation to infrastructure delays and fragmented governance. The city already has the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), which functions as a regional planning agency. But reports that the government may dissolve the GCDA rather than upgrade it to a metropolitan authority have fuelled further confusion. The GCDA, for its part, has formally appealed to the seventh State Finance Commission to be elevated to MDA status. Officials have argued that equipping the GCDA with statutory authority and financial tools such as municipal bonds would provide the necessary capacity to drive metropolitan-level projects. They stress that this is crucial if Kochi is to achieve its long-term sustainability goals and transition into a climate-resilient, inclusive, and economically competitive metropolis.
What is at stake is not just administrative cohesion but the city’s ability to respond to pressing urban challenges in a coordinated manner. Without an empowered implementing agency, metropolitan planning risks becoming a consultative exercise rather than a transformative one. Observers point out that similar models in Indian cities like Bengaluru and Pune have shown that the mere formation of planning committees, without implementation arms, leads to policy deadlocks and duplications. As Kochi positions itself as a future-ready city, questions loom over whether its planning machinery can keep pace with its ambitions. Urban equity advocates have stressed that decentralisation, inclusivity, and climate-resilient growth cannot be achieved through paper plans alone. The success of the MPC — and by extension, of the Kochi metropolitan region — will ultimately depend on the state’s willingness to create an integrated and empowered governance structure capable of executing on its planning vision.
For now, the MPC’s formation is a symbolic yet crucial first step. But the city’s planners, residents, and civil society will be watching closely to see if it evolves into a vehicle of real urban transformation — or remains a planning shell lacking the power to build the Kochi of tomorrow.
Metropolitan planning committee in Kochi formed amid concerns over missing implementation authority
