Seventh Schedule · Article 246
Union List, State List and Concurrent List
Distributes legislative powers between Parliament and the State Legislatures across three Lists. Parliament has exclusive power over List I; States over List II; both may legislate on List III, with Union law prevailing in case of conflict (Article 254).
List I — Union List (97 entries)
Subjects on which Parliament has exclusive power to make laws. Representative entries:
- 1Defence of India and every part thereof.
- 2Naval, military and air forces; any other armed forces of the Union.
- 10Foreign affairs; all matters which bring the Union into relation with any foreign country.
- 14Entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries.
- 17Citizenship, naturalisation and aliens.
- 22Railways.
- 36Currency, coinage and legal tender; foreign exchange.
- 45Banking.
- 58Manufacture, supply and distribution of salt by Union agencies.
- 82Taxes on income other than agricultural income.
- 83Duties of customs including export duties.
- 84Duties of excise on tobacco and other goods manufactured or produced in India (with specified exceptions).
- 97Any other matter not enumerated in List II or List III including any tax not mentioned in either of those Lists (residuary power).
List II — State List (originally 66; currently 59 entries)
Subjects on which State Legislatures have exclusive power to make laws. Representative entries:
- 1Public order (subject to the entries in List I regarding armed forces).
- 2Police (including railway and village police), subject to List I.
- 6Public health and sanitation; hospitals and dispensaries.
- 8Intoxicating liquors — production, manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale.
- 13Communications — roads, bridges, ferries and other means of communication not specified in List I.
- 14Agriculture, including agricultural education and research, protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases.
- 18Land, rights in or over land, land tenures, transfer and alienation of agricultural land.
- 45Land revenue, including assessment and collection of revenue.
- 51Duties of excise on alcoholic liquors for human consumption; opium, Indian hemp and other narcotic drugs and narcotics.
- 54Taxes on the sale of petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (petrol), natural gas, aviation turbine fuel and alcoholic liquor for human consumption (post-GST scope).
List III — Concurrent List (52 entries)
Subjects on which both Parliament and State Legislatures may legislate. Representative entries:
- 1Criminal law, including all matters included in the Indian Penal Code / Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, but excluding certain offences reserved to List I.
- 2Criminal procedure, including all matters included in the Code of Criminal Procedure / BNSS.
- 5Marriage and divorce; infants and minors; adoption; wills, intestacy and succession; joint family and partition.
- 6Transfer of property other than agricultural land; registration of deeds and documents.
- 7Contracts, including partnership, agency, contracts of carriage, and other special forms of contracts.
- 17Prevention of cruelty to animals.
- 17AForests.
- 17BProtection of wild animals and birds.
- 20APopulation control and family planning.
- 25Education, including technical education, medical education and universities (subject to Union List entries 63, 64, 65 and 66); vocational and technical training of labour.
Note.The 42nd Amendment (1976) shifted Education, Forests, Weights & Measures, Protection of Wild Animals and Birds, and Administration of Justice from the State List to the Concurrent List. The 101st Amendment (2016) introduced Article 246A creating a concurrent power over Goods and Services Tax, restructuring several taxation entries in Lists I and II.
Source: Constitution of India, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Reproduced under s.52(1)(q), Copyright Act 1957. Where entries have been abridged for readability, the authoritative text remains the official version.