Kalyan is a city on the banks of the Ulhas River in the Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) of Thane district. Kalyan and its neighbouring township of Dombivli jointly form Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, abbreviated as KDMC. It is a founding city of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Kalyan is the 7th biggest city in Maharashtra and 29th in India. Kalyan also serves as a major railway station for the trains bound for Mumbai and is a large junction separating two routes, one going to Karjat and the other to Kasara.

With a population of more than 700,000, Kalyan is a part of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation established in 1983, with municipalities of Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath, and 81 other villages. It was then one of the largest urban local bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and in the state, with an area of around 209 km2 (81 sq mi). The government of Maharashtra has decided to delete major areas of the corporation limits on different occasions.[clarification needed] Presently the total area of the corporation has remained and measures about 67 km2 (26 sq mi). The city is famous for its major role in providing a workforce for Mumbai’s economy.