diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/kuberay/ray-cluster.complete.yaml b/python/ray/autoscaler/kuberay/ray-cluster.complete.yaml
index f51ac9d4c2427..d57f5d6f23b98 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/kuberay/ray-cluster.complete.yaml
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/kuberay/ray-cluster.complete.yaml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ spec:
   workerGroupSpecs:
   # the pod replicas in this group typed worker
   - replicas: 1
-    minReplicas: 1
+    minReplicas: 0
     maxReplicas: 300
     # logical group name, for this called small-group, also can be functional
     groupName: small-group
diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/instance_manager/cloud_providers/kuberay/cloud_provider.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/instance_manager/cloud_providers/kuberay/cloud_provider.py
index 19e236cb4d19d..c1b8ddc2a31b9 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/instance_manager/cloud_providers/kuberay/cloud_provider.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/instance_manager/cloud_providers/kuberay/cloud_provider.py
@@ -209,21 +209,25 @@ def _initialize_scale_request(
         cur_instances = self.instances
 
         # Get the worker groups that have pending deletes and the worker groups that
-        # have finished deletes.
+        # have finished deletes, and the set of workers included in the workersToDelete
+        # field of any worker group.
         (
             worker_groups_with_pending_deletes,
             worker_groups_without_pending_deletes,
-        ) = self._get_workers_groups_with_deletes(
-            ray_cluster, set(cur_instances.keys())
-        )
+            worker_to_delete_set,
+        ) = self._get_workers_delete_info(ray_cluster, set(cur_instances.keys()))
 
         # Calculate the desired number of workers by type.
         num_workers_dict = defaultdict(int)
-        for _, cur_instance in cur_instances.items():
-            if cur_instance.node_kind == NodeKind.HEAD:
-                # Only track workers.
-                continue
-            num_workers_dict[cur_instance.node_type] += 1
+        worker_groups = ray_cluster["spec"].get("workerGroupSpecs", [])
+        for worker_group in worker_groups:
+            node_type = worker_group["groupName"]
+            # Handle the case where users manually increase `minReplicas`
+            # to scale up the number of worker Pods. In this scenario,
+            # `replicas` will be smaller than `minReplicas`.
+            num_workers_dict[node_type] = max(
+                worker_group["replicas"], worker_group["minReplicas"]
+            )
 
         # Add to launch nodes.
         for node_type, count in to_launch.items():
@@ -242,6 +246,11 @@ def _initialize_scale_request(
                 # Not possible to delete head node.
                 continue
 
+            if to_delete_instance.cloud_instance_id in worker_to_delete_set:
+                # If the instance is already in the workersToDelete field of
+                # any worker group, skip it.
+                continue
+
             num_workers_dict[to_delete_instance.node_type] -= 1
             assert num_workers_dict[to_delete_instance.node_type] >= 0
             to_delete_instances_by_type[to_delete_instance.node_type].append(
@@ -321,6 +330,7 @@ def _submit_scale_request(
             # No patch required.
             return
 
+        logger.info(f"Submitting a scale request: {scale_request}")
         self._patch(f"rayclusters/{self._cluster_name}", patch_payload)
 
     def _add_launch_errors(
@@ -392,9 +402,9 @@ def instances(self) -> Dict[CloudInstanceId, CloudInstance]:
         return copy.deepcopy(self._cached_instances)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _get_workers_groups_with_deletes(
+    def _get_workers_delete_info(
         ray_cluster_spec: Dict[str, Any], node_set: Set[CloudInstanceId]
-    ) -> Tuple[Set[NodeType], Set[NodeType]]:
+    ) -> Tuple[Set[NodeType], Set[NodeType], Set[CloudInstanceId]]:
         """
         Gets the worker groups that have pending deletes and the worker groups that
         have finished deletes.
@@ -404,10 +414,13 @@ def _get_workers_groups_with_deletes(
                 deletes.
             worker_groups_with_finished_deletes: The worker groups that have finished
                 deletes.
+            worker_to_delete_set: A set of Pods that are included in the workersToDelete
+                field of any worker group.
         """
 
         worker_groups_with_pending_deletes = set()
         worker_groups_with_deletes = set()
+        worker_to_delete_set = set()
 
         worker_groups = ray_cluster_spec["spec"].get("workerGroupSpecs", [])
         for worker_group in worker_groups:
@@ -422,6 +435,7 @@ def _get_workers_groups_with_deletes(
             worker_groups_with_deletes.add(node_type)
 
             for worker in workersToDelete:
+                worker_to_delete_set.add(worker)
                 if worker in node_set:
                     worker_groups_with_pending_deletes.add(node_type)
                     break
@@ -429,7 +443,11 @@ def _get_workers_groups_with_deletes(
         worker_groups_with_finished_deletes = (
             worker_groups_with_deletes - worker_groups_with_pending_deletes
         )
-        return worker_groups_with_pending_deletes, worker_groups_with_finished_deletes
+        return (
+            worker_groups_with_pending_deletes,
+            worker_groups_with_finished_deletes,
+            worker_to_delete_set,
+        )
 
     def _fetch_instances(self) -> Dict[CloudInstanceId, CloudInstance]:
         """
diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/tests/test_node_provider.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/tests/test_node_provider.py
index 02d84e376b8df..47483d3f61faa 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/tests/test_node_provider.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/v2/tests/test_node_provider.py
@@ -492,6 +492,124 @@ def test_pending_deletes(self):
             },
         ]
 
+    def test_increase_min_replicas_to_scale_up(self):
+        # Simulate the case where users manually increase the `minReplicas` field
+        # from 0 to $num_pods. KubeRay will create $num_pods worker Pods to meet the new
+        # `minReplicas`, even though the `replicas` field is still 0.
+        small_group = "small-group"
+        num_pods = 0
+        assert (
+            self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0]["groupName"]
+            == small_group
+        )
+        for pod in self.mock_client._pod_list["items"]:
+            if pod["metadata"]["labels"]["ray.io/group"] == small_group:
+                num_pods += 1
+        assert num_pods > 0
+        self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0]["replicas"] = 0
+        self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0][
+            "minReplicas"
+        ] = num_pods
+
+        # Launching a new node and `replicas` should be
+        # `max(replicas, minReplicas) + 1`.
+        self.provider.launch(shape={small_group: 1}, request_id="launch-1")
+        patches = self.mock_client.get_patches(
+            f"rayclusters/{self.provider._cluster_name}"
+        )
+        assert len(patches) == 1
+        assert patches[0] == {
+            "op": "replace",
+            "path": "/spec/workerGroupSpecs/0/replicas",
+            "value": num_pods + 1,
+        }
+
+    def test_inconsistent_pods_raycr_scale_up(self):
+        """
+        Test the case where the cluster state has not yet reached the desired state.
+        Specifically, the replicas field in the RayCluster CR does not match the actual
+        number of Pods.
+        """
+        # Check the assumptions of the test
+        small_group = "small-group"
+        num_pods = 0
+        for pod in self.mock_client._pod_list["items"]:
+            if pod["metadata"]["labels"]["ray.io/group"] == small_group:
+                num_pods += 1
+
+        assert (
+            self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0]["groupName"]
+            == small_group
+        )
+        desired_replicas = num_pods + 1
+        self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0][
+            "replicas"
+        ] = desired_replicas
+
+        # Launch a new node. The replicas field should be incremented by 1, even though
+        # the cluster state has not yet reached the goal state.
+        launch_request = {"small-group": 1}
+        self.provider.launch(shape=launch_request, request_id="launch-1")
+
+        patches = self.mock_client.get_patches(
+            f"rayclusters/{self.provider._cluster_name}"
+        )
+        assert len(patches) == 1
+        assert patches[0] == {
+            "op": "replace",
+            "path": "/spec/workerGroupSpecs/0/replicas",
+            "value": desired_replicas + 1,
+        }
+
+    def test_inconsistent_pods_raycr_scale_down(self):
+        """
+        Test the case where the cluster state has not yet reached the desired state.
+        Specifically, the replicas field in the RayCluster CR does not match the actual
+        number of Pods.
+        """
+        # Check the assumptions of the test
+        small_group = "small-group"
+        num_pods = 0
+        pod_to_delete = None
+        for pod in self.mock_client._pod_list["items"]:
+            if pod["metadata"]["labels"]["ray.io/group"] == small_group:
+                num_pods += 1
+                pod_to_delete = pod["metadata"]["name"]
+        assert pod_to_delete is not None
+
+        assert (
+            self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0]["groupName"]
+            == small_group
+        )
+        desired_replicas = num_pods + 1
+        self.mock_client._ray_cluster["spec"]["workerGroupSpecs"][0][
+            "replicas"
+        ] = desired_replicas
+
+        # Terminate a node. The replicas field should be decremented by 1, even though
+        # the cluster state has not yet reached the goal state.
+        self.provider.terminate(ids=[pod_to_delete], request_id="term-1")
+        patches = self.mock_client.get_patches(
+            f"rayclusters/{self.provider._cluster_name}"
+        )
+        assert len(patches) == 2
+        assert patches == [
+            {
+                "op": "replace",
+                "path": "/spec/workerGroupSpecs/0/replicas",
+                "value": desired_replicas - 1,
+            },
+            {
+                "op": "replace",
+                "path": "/spec/workerGroupSpecs/0/scaleStrategy",
+                "value": {
+                    "workersToDelete": [
+                        pod_to_delete,
+                    ]
+                },
+            },
+        ]
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     if os.environ.get("PARALLEL_CI"):
diff --git a/python/ray/tests/kuberay/test_autoscaling_config.py b/python/ray/tests/kuberay/test_autoscaling_config.py
index 6ae9ab7fc4fe4..12b5c239f4a6a 100644
--- a/python/ray/tests/kuberay/test_autoscaling_config.py
+++ b/python/ray/tests/kuberay/test_autoscaling_config.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def _get_basic_autoscaling_config() -> dict:
             },
             "small-group": {
                 "max_workers": 300,
-                "min_workers": 1,
+                "min_workers": 0,
                 "node_config": {},
                 "resources": {
                     "CPU": 1,
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ def _get_basic_autoscaling_config() -> dict:
             # and modified max_workers.
             "gpu-group": {
                 "max_workers": 200,
-                "min_workers": 1,
+                "min_workers": 0,
                 "node_config": {},
                 "resources": {
                     "CPU": 1,
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ def _get_basic_autoscaling_config() -> dict:
             # and modified max_workers and node_config.
             "tpu-group": {
                 "max_workers": 4,
-                "min_workers": 1,
+                "min_workers": 0,
                 "node_config": {},
                 "resources": {
                     "CPU": 1,