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| Cities need to become engines of growth: Study |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi Mar 10, 2011, 00:54 IST |
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India’s economic growth momentum can be sustained only if urbanisation is actively facilitated, according to a recent report prepared by an expert committee on urban infrastructure, headed by economist Isher Ahluwalia.
In the coming decades, the urban sector will play a critical role in the structural transformation of the Indian economy and in sustaining high rates of economic growth, said the report which was given to the urban development minister Kamal Nath. The committee has made projections for the period from the 12th Five-Year Plan to the 15th Plan (2012-31).
While stating that cities will have to become engines of national development, the report has stressed that needs of the urban poor cannot remain isolated. “India cannot afford to get its urban strategy wrong, but it cannot get it right without bringing about a fundamental shift in the mindset which separates the rural from the urban,” it has argued.
Highlighting the need for a comprehensive framework of urban policy and planning, the committee has recommended increasing the investment in urban infrastructure from 0.7 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011-12 to 1.1 per cent by 2031-32. Among the other suggestions made in the report are raising the spend on maintaining old and new assets, renewal and redevelopment of urban areas including slums, better regional and metropolitan planning, ensuring access to services, and launch of a new improved Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. In addition, a unified command under a mayor has been recommended for improving the governance of cities and towns.
The investment for urban infrastructure from 2012 to 2031 is estimated at Rs 39.2 lakh crore (at 2009-10 prices), the report has said. Of this, Rs 17.3 lakh crore (44 per cent) would go towards urban roads, urban transport is expected to take the next largest chunk of Rs 4.5 lakh crore, followed by renewal and redevelopment including slums at Rs 4 lakh crore, water supply Rs 3.2 lakh crore, sewerage Rs 2.4 lakh crore, storm water drains Rs 1.9 lakh crore and capacity building at Rs 1 lakh crore. Other areas such as traffic support infrastructure, solid waste management and street lighting will need the remaining amount.
Focusing on the significance of operations and maintenance (O&M) for the upkeep of assets, the report has projected a provision of Rs 19.9 lakh crore over the 20-year period for the same.
The panel concluded that large expenditures on Indian cities and towns have to be combined with better governance structures, strong political and administrative will to collect taxes and user charges, and improved capacity to deliver. “Cities must be empowered, financially strengthened, and efficiently governed to respond to the needs of their citizens and to contribute to the growth momentum,” the report has said.
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