Tamil Nadu will be the host of the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council, to be held at Mamallapuram in August 2026. The Southern Zonal Council is a statutory body set up under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Its members are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, along with the Union Territory of Puducherry. Zonal Councils provide a forum where the Union government and the States of a region discuss shared issues such as inter-State disputes, infrastructure, security and development, helping to promote cooperative federalism.