The Municipal Council for Nagpur was established in 1864. At that time, the area under the jurisdiction of the Nagpur Municipal Council was 15.5 sq. km and the population was 82,000.

The duties entrusted to the Nagpur Municipal Council were to maintain cleanliness and arrange for street lights and water supply with government assistance. In 1922, the Central Provinces & Berar Municipalities Act was framed for the proper functioning of the Municipal Council.

On 22nd January 1950, CP & Berar Act No. 2 was published in the Madhya Pradesh Gazette which is known as the City of Nagpur Corporation Act, 1948 (CNC Act). The Municipal Corporation came into existence in March 1951. The first development plan of the city was prepared in 1953. In the year 1956, under the state reconstitution, the Berar Province merged into the Maharashtra State with Mumbai being recognized as its capital; in 1960, Nagpur was declared as the second capital of the state.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation was initially governed by the city of Nagpur Corporation Act (CNC Act) 1948, till the implementation of Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act The CNC Act was repealed in 2012 vide Maharashtra Notification no. 23 Dated 21 August 2012 and thereafter the working of Nagpur Municipal Corporation in governed by Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act ,   the key responsibility for providing Nagpur’s citizens basic urban services lies with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. These services include water supply, sewerage, waste management, slum improvement, land use planning, construction and maintenance of internal roads, street lighting, maintenance of parks and gardens, providing primary health and education facilities, etc. The Municipal Commissioner is the administrative head of the Municipal Corporation who is assisted by Additional Municipal Commissioner, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Asst. Municipal Commissioner and various departmental Heads. NMC co-ordinates with various other government organizations like NIT, MHADA, MSRTC, the Traffic Police, MPCB, etc. for delivering these basic urban services.