Article 3 — Formation of New States

Parliament may by law — (a) form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State; (b) increase the area of any State; (c) diminish the area of any State; (d) alter the boundaries of any State; (e) alter the name of any State: Provided that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President and unless, where the proposal contained in the Bill affects the areas, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the President to the Legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Article 3 was used most consequentially in the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which redrawn state boundaries on linguistic lines following the States Reorganisation Commission report. It was also used to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh in 2014 to create Telangana, and to reorganise Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories in 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370.

• Article 1
• Article 4
• Article 370

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026