[11] Under Vijayanagara Rayas, Rayara Hubli grew as a commercial centre, famous for trade in cotton, saltpetre and iron.

[12] The Mughals conquered Rayara Hubli and it was then placed under the governance of the Nawab of Savanur, who built a new extension named Majidpura.

Later in 1880, the British started the Railway workshop and with this, Hubli came to be reckoned as an industrial centre in this part of India.

[14] The Sufi shrine, Sayed Fathesha Wali, located near the indipump circle of old Hubli, was visited by Tipu Sultan.

The corporation administers an area of 213 square kilometres and operates from its headquarters on Sir Siddappa Kambali Road [2[16]].

For effective governance, the corporation is divided into 12 administrative zones and comprises 82 wards, 56 of which belong to the Hubballi region [5[19]].

The municipal body is tasked with providing essential services such as sanitation, water supply, waste management, and urban development for the residents of both cities.

In each ward, a corporator is elected, and the majority party forms a council to oversee different administrative departments.

The Municipal Corporation's top official is the Commissioner, who supervises key departments such as public works, taxation, water supply, urban planning, fire services, health and sanitation, and finance.

These BS-6 Tata buses feature modern amenities like CCTV cameras, GPS, LED display boards, voice announcements, and panic buttons for women's safety.

To ensure efficient monitoring, officials can track speed, braking, fuel levels, and skipped stops via a mobile app.

[30] The headquarters of HDMC is situated in Hubli, comprising 82 members covering four Vidhan Sabha Constituencies of Hubli-Dharwad.

There has been a huge demand by people of Dharwad to create a separate civic body and get itself detached by HDMC.

[31][32] Hubli is the commercial hub of Karnataka state popularly known as Vanijya Nagari & Chota Mumbai.

Malnad is well known for its forests and forest-based industries and the other three sides are known for their agricultural products including cotton, groundnut, and oilseeds, as well as manganese ore and granite.

Several trains ply from Hubli to Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Varanasi Vijaywada, Rameshwaram & other cities[38] In November 2019, the work for extending a platform was undertaken by the Railways at the estimated cost of 90 Cr.

Hubli-Dharwad BRTS (HDBRTS) project is a Government of Karnataka initiative to foster long-term economic growth in the region.

The project promotes fast, safe, comfortable, convenient and affordable public transportation between the twin cities and aims to reduce congestion and air pollution in the region.

The length of the Hubli-Dharwad BRTS corridor is 22.25 km (13.83 mi) from CBT Hubli to CBT–Dharwad with the width of the cross-sections ranging from 44 to 35 m (144 to 115 ft).

The BRTS corridor includes segregated bus lanes, access-controlled bus stations, physical and fare integration with BRT feeder services, off-board ticketing through smart cards and bar-coded paper tickets, intelligent transport system and high-quality buses (Standard AC buses).

[citation needed] The all new City and Suburban Bus Terminal is one of the best in Karnataka because of its facilities and infrastructure it owns.