Places where maximum economic offences and cyber crimes occur, places where maximum encorachments on government lands takes place, and places where VIPs and protected persons reside are some of the criteria for setting up new police stations in Maharashtra.

"The state government has laid down 16 guidelines for setting up new police stations," Pravin Dixit, IPS, Principal Secretary, Home told PTI.

The guidelines, stipulated in a Government Resolution, will do away with the present guidelines, formulated way back in January 1960, he said.

They are expected to help determine the procedure of augmenting the number of police stations in Maharashtra. There are 1023 police stations in the state, including 110 in Mumbai, he said.

"We have asked all police units, including commissionerates and SP offices, to prepare a master plan as per the guidelines and submit it by June 30," the senior IPS official said.

The new guidelines were decided at a meeting of senior officials held here in March. It took into account reports prepared by the Union Home Ministry from time to time, he said.

The guildelines specify that the distance between two police stations should not exceed 10 km in rural areas and 4 km in urban areas.

Prominent criteria to set up police stations include places where crimes like drug addiction and juvenile offences take place, high density areas, large shrines, and tourist spots. Places where there is high traffic density and frequent accidents have also been included.