India is administratively divided into 28 states and 8 union territories, each with its own capital and government structure. India’s states enjoy substantial powers under the federal system, while union territories are administered more directly by the central government, though some have their own legislatures.
What is a state?
A state in India is a primary administrative unit with its own elected government, legislature, and chief minister, empowered to make laws on subjects listed in the State List and Concurrent List of the Constitution. States have significant autonomy over areas like police, public health, agriculture, and local governance, within the broad framework of the Indian Union.
What is a union territory?
A union territory is an administrative unit that is governed directly by the Union (central) government, often through an appointed administrator or lieutenant governor. Some union territories, such as Delhi and Puducherry, also have elected legislatures with limited state-like powers, while strategic or small territories remain largely under central control.
States vs Union Territories
States and union territories differ mainly in the distribution of powers and the degree of local self-governance they enjoy within India’s federal structure. States are more autonomous with broader legislative competence, whereas union territories vary from having legislatures with limited powers to being fully administered by the central government for strategic, historical, or administrative reasons.
States of India
| S.No | State | Capital |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | Amaravati |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar |
| 3 | Assam | Dispur |
| 4 | Bihar | Patna |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | Raipur |
| 6 | Goa | Panaji |
| 7 | Gujarat | Gandhinagar |
| 8 | Haryana | Chandigarh |
| 9 | Himachal Pradesh | Shimla |
| 10 | Jharkhand | Ranchi |
| 11 | Karnataka | Bengaluru |
| 12 | Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram |
| 13 | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal |
| 14 | Maharashtra | Mumbai |
| 15 | Manipur | Imphal |
| 16 | Meghalaya | Shillong |
| 17 | Mizoram | Aizawl |
| 18 | Nagaland | Kohima |
| 19 | Odisha | Bhubaneswar |
| 20 | Punjab | Chandigarh |
| 21 | Rajasthan | Jaipur |
| 22 | Sikkim | Gangtok |
| 23 | Tamil Nadu | Chennai |
| 24 | Telangana | Hyderabad |
| 25 | Tripura | Agartala |
| 26 | Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow |
| 27 | Uttarakhand | Dehradun |
| 28 | West Bengal | Kolkata |
Union territories of India
| S.No | Union Territory | Capital |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Port Blair |
| 2 | Chandigarh | Chandigarh |
| 3 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | Daman |
| 4 | Delhi (National Capital Territory) | New Delhi |
| 5 | Jammu and Kashmir | Srinagar (summer), Jammu (winter) |
| 6 | Ladakh | Leh |
| 7 | Lakshadweep | Kavaratti |
| 8 | Puducherry | Puducherry |