The Madhya Pradesh Assembly has recently unanimously passed the MP Metropolitan Region Planning and Development Bill, 2025, setting the stage for Indore and Bhopal to be developed as metropolitan cities.

Commencing the discussion, Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya stated that the Metropolitan Area Bill is a component of a comprehensive strategy aimed at tackling developmental challenges anticipated to arise in the forthcoming 25 years.

He said the initiative would not only accelerate growth in these cities but also spur development in the surrounding districts.

He stated that before preparing the plans for metropolitan cities, the government had studied such cities across the country. In MP, the CM will be the chairperson of the Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which will be a powerful body, he added.

The government is also looking forward to bringing forth such a proposal for Jabalpur and Gwalior, the minister said, adding jokingly, “We cannot forget about Rewa, which is the sasural (in-laws’ house) of the CM.” 

Ruing the fact that the government had failed to bring the master plans of Indore and Bhopal on time, he said it would be done shortly. Without getting into too many details about the master plans, the minister said that the green belt will mean 50% of the area will be with dense forest.

Praising Indore and its citizens, he said that he nurtured the city when he was its mayor. Today, the Indore Municipal Corporation is self-reliant and does not look towards Bhopal to pay salaries to its staff.