Kochi Municipal Corporation
Logo of Kochi Municipal Corporation
Type
Type	Municipal Corporation
Term limits	5 years
History
Founded	1967; 59 years ago (1967)
Leadership
Mayor	Adv.Minimol V K, INC
Deputy Mayor	Deepak Joy, INC
Municipal Corporation Secretary	P.S.Shibu[1]
Structure
Seats	76[2]
By party By alliance
Political groups	Government (48)  UDF (48)  INC (42)  IUML (3)  KEC (1)  IND (2) Official Opposition (20)  LDF (20)  CPI(M) (17)  CPI (2)  CON(S) (1) Other Opposition (9)  BJP (6)  IND (2)
Committees	8 Development standing committee Education & Sports standing committee Finance standing committee Health standing committee Public works standing committee Tax appeal standing committee Town planning standing committee Welfare standing committee
Elections
Last election	9 December 2025
Next election	December 2030
Meeting place
Old Corporation Office at Park Avenue,Ernakulam
Website
kochicorporation.lsgkerala.gov.in

TheKochi Municipal Corporation is themunicipal corporation that governs theIndian city ofKochi in the state ofKerala. The Corporation manages 94.88 km² of Kochi city and has a population of 677,381^[3] within that area. It is the most densely populated city corporation in the state.^[4] Kochi Municipal Corporation has been formed withfunctions to improve the infrastructure of town.

The port atKozhikode held superior economic and political position in medieval Kerala coast, whileKannur,Kollam, and Kochi, were commercially important secondary ports, where the traders from various parts of the world would gather.^[5] The arrival of the Portuguese atKappad,Kozhikode in 1498, during theAge of Discovery, opened a direct sea route fromEurope toIndia.^[6] However with the arrival of Portuguese, the power ofZamorin began to decline andKochi began to emerge as the largest port city on the coast.^[7]

TheFort Kochi had its first municipality established under Dutch influence on 18 April 1664 which was limited within Dutch occupied Kochi Stormburg Fort (Immanuel Fort), which was the oldest municipality in the Indian sub-continent. However, with the handing over of Kochi to the British as part ofAnglo-Dutch treaty, the municipality of Fort Kochi was disbanded and much of the local administration were then carried out byPandara officials (Revenue department ofCochin Kingdom). TheErnakulam town was under the direct protection of the British Resident of Kochi. A municipality under the chairmanship of British Resident was commissioned in 1823 to administer Ernakulam town. However it didn't have local representation, rather constituted by military officials of theBritish East India Company.

Fort Kochi, which was a part ofMalabar District until 1956, was made a municipality on 1 November 1866, along withKannur,Thalassery,Kozhikode, andPalakkad, according to the Madras Act 10 of 1865 (Amendment of the Improvements in Towns act 1850)^{[8][9][10][11]} of theBritish Indian Empire. Its firstMunicipal Council seating contest was conducted in 1883. This was first modern municipality in the region and also the first native (not under British India) municipality of the country. Much of Kochi's progress in local administration came under reign of Maharaja Rama Varma along with support of Diwan Sankunni Menon. In the year 1873,Mattancherry areas were demarcated out of Fort Kochi and a new municipal board was formed. In 1896, the Maharaja announced establishment of a municipal board for Ernakulam town, constituted by 4 members from palace, 2 members from local communities, one Englishman and 2 members from other religious minorities. The mayor was nominated by Maharaja. These were the first steps towards establishing a modern municipalities in the city.

After independence, these 3 municipalities remained and was brought under Indian laws. In 1956 the erstwhile Elamkulam Panchayat and a portion of Cheranallur Panchayat (Pachalam - Vaduthala) were amalgamated to the Ernakulam Municipality. In 1962 a portion of Palluruthy Panchayat (Mundamveli area) was amalgamated to the then Mattancherry Municipality. Edappally Panchayat was formed in 1946 and Palluruthy and Vyttila in 1953. The idea behind the formation of Kochi Municipal Corporation^[12] was first shaped in the Mattancherry Municipal Council. The Council passed a resolution requesting the Government to form Cochin Municipal Corporation amalgamating the Municipalities of Ernakulam, Mattancherry and Fort Kochi, on 9 July 1960. However, the erstwhile Fort Kochi Municipal Council was strongly opposed to this proposal.

Kerala State Assembly approved the proposal of Cochin Municipal Corporation. TheGovernment of Kerala, as per their order G.O. (MS) 276/67/DD dt. 27/9/67, notified the formation of the Municipal Corporation of Kochi by amalgamating the three historical Municipalities of the state (Ernakulam, Mattancherry and Fort Kochi) with the Willingdon Island, fourPanchayats (Palluruthy, Vennala, Vyttila and Edappally) and the small islands of Gundu Dweepu, Ramanthuruth. The new Corporation came into existence on 1 November 1967, having a total area of 83.524 km². The name of the Corporations was later changed to Kochi Municipal Corporation, to reflect the local name.

The corporation is headed by amayor. The current mayor is VK Minimol of theIndian National Congress, seconded by Deepak Joy as Deputy Mayor. Former mayors and deputy mayors includeMercy Williams andC.K. Manisankar. The city is divided into 74 administrative wards, from which the members of the corporation council are elected for a period of five years. The corporation has its central office situated inErnakulam and has zonal offices atFort Kochi,Mattancherry,Palluruthy,Edappally,Vaduthala andVyttila.

For the purpose of administration, the corporation is divided into different departments, each catering to a different aspect of the city's development and welfare. The Personal Department takes care of the general administration of the city. The various departments include that ofTown Planning,Health,Engineering,Revenue,Accounts and the Council Section. The corporation has aJanasevanakendram (meaning centre for people's service), that addresses the issues of the public. The corporation also operates eightmaternity andchild welfare centers in the city.

After the warddelimitation in 2025, the number of wards in Kochi Municipal Corporation increased from 74 to 76.^[13][14]

The 76 wards of the Kochi Municipal Corporation and their councillors are listed below in the serial wise order.^[17]

The Kochi City has a population of 596,473 as per Indian Census 2001. Kochi witnessed a rapid population growth during the past 30 years. The average decadal growth in Kochi Corporation is 7.83% whereas the nearby municipal areas registered decadal average of 18.65%, and the adjoining panchayaths had an average decadal growth of 12.13%. The Sub-urban areas around the city is showing high rate of population growth and also fast developing trends. The literacy rate is 95.5%.

The following are the Income sources for the Corporation from the Central and State Government.^[18][19][20]

Following is the Tax related revenue for the corporation.

• Property tax.
• Profession tax.
• Entertainment tax.
• Grants from Central and State Government like Goods and Services Tax.
• Advertisement tax.

Following is the Non Tax related revenue for the corporation.

• Water usage charges.
• Fees from Documentation services.
• Rent received from municipal property.
• Funds from municipal bonds.
• Fees and user charges
• Sale and hire charges

S.No.	Party name	Party symbol	Number of Corporators	Change	Map
1.	UDF		48	18
2.	LDF		20	9
3.	BJP		06	1
4.	IND		02	8

S.No.	Party name	Party symbol	Number of Corporators	Change
1.	UDF		30	8
2.	LDF		29	6
3.	OTHERS		10	1
4.	BJP		05	3

Soumini Jain from theIndian National Congress served as themayor of Kochi Corporation in 2015.^{[21][22][23][24]} On the council, Soumini represented the municipal corporation's 36th division (Elamkulam).^[25]

One of the main issues that the Kochi Municipal Corporation faces is that much of the modern city has developed outside the official city limits which was last defined in 1967. As a result, the extended urban agglomeration grew much more than any other city of India, leaving the corporation dry in resources. As Kochi is a major industry and thriving modern port-city, it required much more strong leadership and plans, which till now never materialized. The city grew in unplanned way without any masterplan creating more problems. As most of the town-planning agencies like transport, electricity, water distribution were managed byKerala Government, the Kochi Corporation failed in co-ordinating various agencies implementing various projects. Apart from all these, much of the infrastructural development funds for the city were given to Greater Cochin Development Authority which often creates administrative clashes and issues over implementation.

One of the major issue which the city faced earlier was waste management which aggravated in 2002, which was partially solved by commissioning of theBrahmapuram Waste Management Plant in 2008. However this was gradually converted into a dumping yard. In 2023, a major fire broke out at the Brahmapuram plant resulting in major parts of Kochi city getting engulfed in smoke.^[26]

• Kochi metropolitan area

• Website1
• Website2

• Municipal corporations in Kerala
• 1967 establishments in Kerala
• Government of Kochi

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