The global shortage of potable water underscores the importance of groundwater as a key freshwater source, though its distribution is uneven due to various surface and subsurface factors. This study explores the Bankura Sadar Sub-division in Bankura District, West Bengal, spanning 2598 sq. km, for identification of the groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) using GIS techniques. Twenty-one parameters, including groundwater depth, elevation, slope, geology, geomorphology, drainage density, land use and land cover, and long-term average annual rainfall were analyzed applying multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Entropy-based weighting method has been applied to determine each parameter’s weightage. The analysis resulted categorizing the whole area into five classes or zones having very low, low, moderate, high, and very high groundwater potentiality, covering 2.43%, 16.81%, 35.70%, 26.40%, and 18.66% of the region, respectively. Validation of these findings was conducted using groundwater depth data, and the method’s accuracy was confirmed by a Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve with an AUC value of 84%. These findings are essential for hydrogeological studies and groundwater resource management.