After already being divided in two, the coveted Urban Development (UD) department could see yet another split. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government is mulling carving out a UD-3 department, which, according to Mantralaya officials, will oversee infrastructure projects like Metro 3 and other developmental works executed by MMRDA and CIDCO.

If implemented, this will mean three IAS officers for the UD department. At present, the UD has two senior IAS officers, one each for UD-1 that takes care of the development plan, town planning and projects executed by the MMRDA and CIDCO, and UD-2 that overlooks municipal administrations across the state, and developmental schemes like Swaach Bharat, etc.