In India a Municipal Corporation is a local government body that administers a city of population 200,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively part of the district it is located in. The largest Municipal Corporations in India currently are Mumbai, followed by Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
The Municipal Corporation consists of members elected from the wards of the city. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the members among themselves. A Municipal Commissioner, who is from the Indian Administrative Service is appointed to head the administrative staff of the Municipal Corporation, implement the decisions of the Corporation and prepare its annual budget.
The Municipal Corporation is responsible for water supply, records of births and deaths (delegated from Central Govt Birth and Death Registration Act), drainage, sewage removal, fire brigade service, gardens and maintenance of buildings. The sources of income of the Corporation are taxes on water, house-tax, entertainment and octroi (now abolished from many cities).
