Classification of Indian cities
The classification of Indian cities is a ranking system used by the Government of India to allocate House Rent Allowance to public servants employed in different cities in India. HRA is also used by the Indian Revenue Service to provide income tax exemptions. Cities are classified on the basis of their population, as recommended by the Sixth Central Pay Finance. Before the Sixth Central Pay Commission, the classification of cities in India was based on two parameters
Current classification
Under the recommendation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, the CCA classification was abolished in 2008. The earlier HRA classification of cities was changed from A-1 to X; A, B-1, and B-2 to Y; and C and unclassified cities to Z. X, Y, and Z are more commonly known as Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities, respectively.On the basis of the 2011 census, 2 cities—Pune, Ahmedabad—were upgraded from Y to X and 21 cities from Z to Y on 1 April 2014.
Historical classification
The cities were classified as follows before the Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendations were followed in 2008. This classification was initially based on the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission of India in 1997. Chennai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai were classified as A-1 cities. City statuses were later revised based on the results of the 2001 Census of India. Hyderabad was accorded the A1 status on 31 August 2007, and Bangalore on 21 September 2007. CCA classification was abolished in 2008.| CCA classification | HRA classification | City |
| A-1 | A-1 | Mumbai |
| A-1 | A-1 | Delhi |
| A-1 | A-1 | Kolkata |
| A-1 | A-1 | Chennai |
| A-1 | A-1 | Bangalore |
| A-1 | A-1 | Hyderabad |
| A | A | Ahmedabad |
| A | A | Surat |
| A | A | Pune |
| A | A | Kanpur |
| A | A | Indore |
| A | A | Jaipur |
| A | A | Vadodara |
| A | A | Nagpur |
| A | A | Lucknow |
| A | A | Patna |
| A | A | Vishakapatnam |
| A | A | Bhopal |
| A | A | Gwalior |
| A | A | Jabalpur |
| A | A | Aurangabad |
| A | A | Gandhinagar |
| A | A | Vellore |
| B-1 | B-1 | Madurai |
| B-1 | B-1 | Aligarh |
| B-1 | B-1 | Kochi |
| B-1 | B-1 | Coimbatore |
| B-1 | B-1 | Vijayawada |
| B-1 | B-1 | Tiruchirapalli |
| B-1 | B-1 | Nashik |
| B-1 | B-1 | Rajkot |
| B-1 | B-1 | Solapur |
| B-1 | B-1 | Anand |
| B-1 | B-1 | Ludhiana |
| B-1 | B-1 | Agra |
| B-1 | B-1 | Meerut |
| B-1 | B-2 | Thiruvananthapuram |
| B-1 | B-2 | Kozhikode |
| B-1 | B-2 | Faridabad |
| B-1 | B-2 | Varanasi |
| B-1 | B-2 | Jamshedpur |
| B-1 | B-2 | Allahabad |
| B-1 | B-2 | Amritsar |
| B-1 | C | Dhanbad |
| B-2 | B-2 | Gorakhpur |
| B-2 | B-2 | Hubli-Dharwad |
| B-2 | B-2 | Bhavnagar |
| B-2 | B-2 | Raipur |
| B-2 | B-2 | Mysore |
| B-2 | B-2 | Thrissur |
| B-2 | B-2 | Mangalore |
| B-2 | B-2 | Guntur |
| B-2 | B-2 | Bhubaneswar |
| B-2 | B-2 | Amravati |
| B-2 | B-2 | Srinagar |
| B-2 | B-2 | Bhilai |
| B-2 | B-2 | Warangal |
| B-2 | B-2 | Tirunelveli |
| B-2 | B-2 | Nellore |
| B-2 | B-2 | Ranchi |
| B-2 | B-2 | Guwahati |
| B-2 | B-2 | Aurangabad |
| B-2 | B-2 | Chandigarh |
| B-2 | B-2 | Patiala |
| B-2 | B-2 | Jodhpur |
| B-2 | B-2 | Pondicherry |
| B-2 | B-2 | Salem |
| B-2 | C | Dehradun |
| B-2 | C | Hajipur |
| B-2 | C | Kollam |
| B-2 | C | Sangli |
| B-2 | C | Jamnagar |
| B-2 | C | Jammu |
| B-2 | C | Kurnool |
| B-2 | C | Roorkee |
| B-2 | C | Kannur |
| B-2 | C | Tiruvannamalai |
| B-2 | C | Etawah |
Population-based classification
The Reserve Bank of India classifies centres into six tiers based on population. The tables below show the classification.| Population classification | Population |
| Tier-1 | 100,000 and above |
| Tier-2 | 50,000 to 99,999 |
| Tier-3 | 20,000 to 49,999 |
| Tier-4 | 10,000 to 19,999 |
| Tier-5 | 5,000 to 9,999 |
| Tier-6 | less than 5000 |
| Population classification | Population |
| Rural centre | up to 9,999 |
| Semi-urban centre | 10,000 to 99,999 |
| Urban centre | 100,000 to 999,999 |
| Metropolitan centre | 1,000,000 and above |