The present system of administration in Delhi can be traced back to the
British India (1858–1947). During the
Delhi Durbar of 1911, the capital of India was shifted from
Calcutta in the erstwhile
Bengal Presidency to
New Delhi. Later the status of Delhi was elevated to a
union territory in November 1956. After the
69th Constitutional (Amendment) Act of 1991 came into force, Delhi was formally renamed as the
National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT of Delhi. During the 1970s, Delhi had only four administrative districts i.e.
North,
South,
Central and
New Delhi. Between January 1997 and September 2012, there were nine administrative districts and 27 sub-divisions. In September 2012, two new administrative districts, viz.
South East Delhi and
Shahdara were added to the city's map. In 1978, the Delhi Police Act was promulgated, by which Delhi came under the Police Commissionerate system. Since then almost all powers with respect to maintenance of law & order with the
Deputy Commissioner were vested in the
Commissioner of Delhi Police (as per the Criminal procedure code or
CrPC). The erstwhile
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) came into existence in April 1958. Later in January 2012, MCD was trifurcated into
North,
South and
East MCD. In 2022, the 3 municipal corporations were merged again into the newly founded
Municipal Corporation of Delhi which is headed by
Municipal Commissioner. In December 2025, the
Cabinet of
Delhi government approved the reorganization of its 11 districts into 13 districts to align the revenue district boundaries with the
12 zones of Municipal Corporation of Delhi,
New Delhi Municipal Council and
Delhi Cantonment. The number of sub-districts were increased from 33 to 39. Delhi government notified that the reorganization will take effect from 1 January 2026. == List of districts of Delhi ==