India's first-ever 'Livability Index' to rank 116 cities, says govt

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday announced the commencement of the country's first-ever 'Livability Index' to rank 116 cities.

An official said that the result of the exercise will be announced in June.

"The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has decided to assess the livability standard of 116 Indian cities, which include the identified Smart Cities and few more cities with a population of over 1 million," the housing and urban minister told a press conference here.

Among the cities to be assessed for the 'Livability Index', include Delhi's three municipal corporations, Bangalore (Karnataka), Kochi (Kerala), Ghaziabad, Meerut, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad in Haryana.

The cities will be assessed on 15 core parameters like governance, social infrastructure, education, employment, health and safety and security.

The 'Livability Index' will also take into account physical infrastructure like housing, open spaces, land use, energy and water availability, solid waste management and pollution, among others.

The ministry, through an international bidding process under a World Bank-funded programme, has selected the 'IPSOS Research Pvt Ltd' in consortium with the 'Athena Infonomics India Pvt Ltd' and 'Economist Group Ltd' for the assessment of the livability indices in 116 cities, according a release.