During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi.[9] The Government of British India felt that it would be logistically easier to administer India from Delhi, which is in the centre of northern India.[9] The land for building the new city of Delhi was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894.[10]