diff --git a/ci/actions/generate_next_git_tag.sh b/ci/actions/generate_next_git_tag.sh
index 181c5295d5..632185c1cf 100755
--- a/ci/actions/generate_next_git_tag.sh
+++ b/ci/actions/generate_next_git_tag.sh
@@ -6,13 +6,18 @@
 # ${branch_name} is converted to "DB" if the script operates on develop branch. (e.g first tag for V26: V26.0DB1)
 # if -c flag is provided, version_pre_release in CMakeLists.txt is incremented and a new tag is created and pushed to origin
 # if -o is provided, "build_tag" , "version_pre_release" and "tag_created" are written to file
+# -i flag defines the incrementing. If the script runs on a "releases/v{Major}" branch, it increments minor_version.
+#  for all other non release branches it increments pre_release_vesrion.
+
+#!/bin/bash
 
 set -e
 output=""
 create=false
 tag_created="false"
+increment=1
 
-while getopts ":o:c" opt; do
+while getopts ":o:ci:" opt; do
   case ${opt} in
     o )
       output=$OPTARG
@@ -20,6 +25,9 @@ while getopts ":o:c" opt; do
     c )
       create=true
       ;;
+    i )
+      increment=$OPTARG
+      ;;
     \? )
       echo "Invalid Option: -$OPTARG" 1>&2
       exit 1
@@ -32,6 +40,76 @@ while getopts ":o:c" opt; do
 done
 shift $((OPTIND -1))
 
+
+get_tag_suffix() {
+    local branch_name=$1
+    local version_major=$2
+    local tag_suffix=${branch_name//[^a-zA-Z0-9]/_}
+
+    if [[ "$branch_name" == "develop" ]]; then
+        tag_suffix="DB"
+    fi
+
+    echo $tag_suffix
+}
+
+get_next_tag_number() {
+    local last_tag_number=$1
+    local increment=$2
+    echo $((last_tag_number + increment))
+}
+
+get_next_minor_version() {
+    local current_minor=$1
+    local increment=$2
+    echo $((current_minor + increment))
+}
+
+get_new_release_tag() {
+    local version_major=$1
+    local next_minor=$2
+    echo "V${version_major}.${next_minor}"
+}
+
+get_new_other_tag() {
+    local base_version=$1
+    local next_tag_number=$2
+    echo "${base_version}${next_tag_number}"
+}
+
+update_output_file() {
+    local output=$1
+    local new_tag=$2
+    local next_number=$3
+    local tag_created=$4
+    local tag_type=$5
+
+    if [[ -n "$output" ]]; then
+        echo "build_tag =$new_tag" > $output
+        echo "$tag_type =$next_number" >> $output
+        echo "tag_created =$tag_created" >> $output
+    fi
+}
+
+update_cmake_lists() {
+    local tag_type=$1
+    local next_number=$2
+    local variable_to_update=""
+
+    if [[ "$tag_type" == "version_pre_release" ]]; then
+        variable_to_update="CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE"
+    elif [[ "$tag_type" == "version_minor" ]]; then
+        variable_to_update="CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR"
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -n "$variable_to_update" ]]; then
+        sed -i.bak "s/set(${variable_to_update} \"[0-9]*\")/set(${variable_to_update} \"${next_number}\")/g" CMakeLists.txt
+        rm CMakeLists.txt.bak
+        git add CMakeLists.txt
+        git commit -m "Update ${variable_to_update} to $next_number"
+    fi
+}
+
 # Fetch all existing tags
 git fetch --tags -f
 
@@ -41,74 +119,69 @@ current_commit_hash=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 # Fetch branch name
 branch_name=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 
-# Check if the branch name is 'develop'
-if [[ "$branch_name" == "develop" ]]; then
-    branch_name="DB"
-fi
-
-# Replace special characters with underscores
-branch_name=${branch_name//[^a-zA-Z0-9]/_}
-
 # Fetch major and minor version numbers from CMakeLists.txt
 current_version_major=$(grep "CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR" CMakeLists.txt | grep -o "[0-9]\+")
 current_version_minor=$(grep "CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR" CMakeLists.txt | grep -o "[0-9]\+")
 
-# Construct the base version
-base_version="V${current_version_major}.${current_version_minor}${branch_name}"
+# Initialize tag suffix and next number
+tag_suffix=""
+next_number=0
+tag_created="true"
 
-# Fetch the existing tags
-existing_tags=$(git tag --list "${base_version}*" | grep -E "${base_version}[0-9]+$")
-
-# If no tag exists, then just append 1 to the base version
-if [[ -z "$existing_tags" ]]; then
-    new_tag="${base_version}1"
-    tag_created="true"
+if [[ "$branch_name" == "releases/v$current_version_major" ]]; then    
+    # Releases branch handling
+    next_number=$(get_next_minor_version $current_version_minor $increment)
+    new_tag=$(get_new_release_tag $current_version_major $next_number)
+    tag_type="version_minor"
 else
-    # Fetch the last tag number, increment it, and append to the base version
-    last_tag=$(echo "$existing_tags" | sort -V | tail -n1)
-    last_tag_number=$(echo "$last_tag" | awk -F"${branch_name}" '{print $2}')
-
-    # Fetch the commit hash of the last commit of the previous tag, ignoring the commit with the version change
-    last_tag_commit_hash=$(git rev-list -n 2 $last_tag | tail -n 1)
-
-    if [[ "$current_commit_hash" == "$last_tag_commit_hash" ]]; then
-        echo "No new commits since the last tag. No new tag will be created."
+    # Non-release branches handling
+    tag_suffix=$(get_tag_suffix $branch_name $current_version_major)
+    base_version="V${current_version_major}.${current_version_minor}${tag_suffix}"
+    existing_tags=$(git tag --list "${base_version}*" | grep -E "${base_version}[0-9]+$")
+    last_tag_number=0
+
+    if [[ -n "$existing_tags" ]]; then
+        last_tag=$(echo "$existing_tags" | sort -V | tail -n1)
+        last_tag_number=$(echo "$last_tag" | awk -F"${tag_suffix}" '{print $2}')
+        last_tag_commit_hash=$(git rev-list -n 2 $last_tag | tail -n 1)
+        
+        if [[ "$current_commit_hash" == "$last_tag_commit_hash" ]]; then
+            echo "No new commits since the last tag. No new tag will be created."
+            tag_created="false"
+        else
+            next_number=$(get_next_tag_number $last_tag_number $increment)
+            new_tag=$(get_new_other_tag $base_version $next_number)
+            tag_type="version_pre_release"
+        fi
     else
-        next_tag_number=$((last_tag_number + 1))
-        new_tag="${base_version}${next_tag_number}"
-        tag_created="true"
+        next_number=1
+        new_tag=$(get_new_other_tag $base_version $next_number)
+        tag_type="version_pre_release"
     fi
 fi
-echo "$new_tag"
 
-# Update output file
-if [[ -n "$output" ]]; then
-    echo "build_tag =$new_tag" > $output
-    echo "version_pre_release =$next_tag_number" >> $output
-    echo "tag_created =$tag_created" >> $output
-fi
+update_output_file $output $new_tag $next_number $tag_created $tag_type
 
 # Skip tag creation if no new commits
-if [[ "$tag_created" == "false" ]]; then
+if [[ "$tag_created" == "true" ]]; then
+    echo "$new_tag"
+else
     exit 0
 fi
 
 if [[ $create == true ]]; then
     # Stash current changes
     git config user.name "${GITHUB_ACTOR}"
-    git config user.email "${GITHUB_ACTOR}@users.noreply.github.com"    
+    git config user.email "${GITHUB_ACTOR}@users.noreply.github.com"
 
-    # Update CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE in CMakeLists.txt (macOs compatible sed -i.bak)
-    sed -i.bak "s/set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE \"[0-9]*\")/set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE \"${next_tag_number}\")/g" CMakeLists.txt
-    rm CMakeLists.txt.bak
-    git add CMakeLists.txt
-    git commit -m "Update CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE to $next_tag_number"    
+    # Update variable in CMakeLists.txt
+    update_cmake_lists $tag_type $next_number
 
     # Create & Push the new tag
     git tag -a "$new_tag" -m "This tag was created with generate_next_git_tag.sh"
     git push origin "$new_tag"
 
-    # Undo the last commit and apply stashed changes
+    # Undo the last commit
     git reset --hard HEAD~1
     echo "The tag $new_tag has been created and pushed, but the commit used for the tag does not exist on any branch."
 fi
\ No newline at end of file