The iconic Chandni Chowk in the national capital's old quarters cannot be renamed by the city's civic body, the Delhi government said Thursday in the wake of a proposal to rename the area after cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar.

"The city government has asked the MCD (Municipul Corporation of Delhi) to avoid taking any decision on renaming Chandni Chowk as the civic body is not empowered to change the names of the existing roads/streets etc. as communicated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs vide its communication dated Sep 27, 1975," an official statement said.