Bangalore: In a momentous move, the Centre has finally given a favourable response to the long pending proposal of State government to rename 12 cities and towns.

The central government has stated that “it has no objection to the change of names” of the said places. The approval has come six years after the State government sent the proposal to the Centre.

The State Revenue Department had sent the proposal to the Centre for changing the names of 12 cities on October 13, 2008.

This was conveyed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to the Principal Secretary, Government of Karnataka, in an official communication here on Friday October 17.

According to the proposal, the 12 cities whose names were sought to be changed are Bangalore as Bengaluru; Mangalore as Mangaluru; Bellary as Ballari; Bijapur as Vijayapura or Vijapura; Belgaum as Belagavi; Chikmagalur as Chikkamagaluru; Gulbarga as Kalaburagi; Mysore as Mysuru; Hospet as Hosapete; Shimoga as Shivamogga; Hubli as Hubballi, and Tumkur as Tumakuru.

The reason behind the change of names is to bring them in consonance with their pronunciation in Kannada.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced recently that the names of key cities would be changed to reflect their native cultural flavor.