Urban India

While megacities often draw attention, the UN report shows that most urban growth is happening in smaller cities

Calls for integrated city planning, land-use reforms, and disincentives on private vehicle use

The Economic Survey 2025-26 says India's cities drive growth but suffer from daily stress due to poor planning, overuse of private transport and fragmented governance

Despite constitutional mandates, municipal elections across India face chronic delays, weakening local democracy and exposing political control over urban governance

As urban populations surge, the call is growing for cities built around people's lived realities, not outdated templates or top-down planning

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed a USD 125-million loan agreement with an aim to enhance urban livability and bolster climate resilience in six districts of Assam. The project will benefit 360,000 residents of Assam by delivering continuous metered water supply and upgrading storm water management systems, the finance ministry said in a statement. It also seeks to strengthen urban governance through institutional reforms and capacity building, it said. Key infrastructure investments include the construction of six water treatment plants with a combined capacity of 72 million litres per day and 800 km distribution pipelines in the district headquarters of Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Goalpara, Golaghat, and Nalbari, it said. The project will also deploy a real-time monitoring system, aiming to maintain non revenue water below 20 per cent, it said. In Guwahati, the project will enhance storm water management in the Bahini Basin with flood

A new report shows India's biggest cities have grown fast in 30 years, with Pune and Bengaluru leading the way as they add new homes, offices, roads and become key growth centres

Projections indicate that by 2036, Indian cities will have close to 600 million inhabitants, i.e. 40 per cent of the country's population

Dabur India, maker of Hajmola candy and Real fruit juices, said that its India FMCG business is likely to decline to mid-single digits due to delayed and truncated winters

Only 30 per cent of urban households said that the quality of piped water supplied to their homes was 'good', while 14 per cent said it was 'very good'

Geographical divide between urban and rural India far sharper than gender divide, it says

Time spent by women on 'learning' remained unchanged at 84 minutes during five years, while the time spent by men declined to 94 minutes from 102 minutes

The numbers also reflect a growing divide between rural and urban India when it comes to rents

It has been pointed out that metro train networks are expensive and not ideal unless commuting distances are long

52 per cent of people prefer apartments, according to Business Standard-Knight Frank report

Awareness about retirement planning has been rising in urban India with growing number of people feeling the need to start planning for their post-work life early, a report said. As much as 44 Indians consider the right age to start planning for retirement is before 35 years, as per the India Retirement Index Study (IRIS) released by Max Life Insurance. Encouragingly, 63 per cent respondents have already begun investing for retirement, leading to reduced concerns about meeting both basic and luxury needs, as well as securing their children's futures, it said. A notable 68 per cent of urban Indian working women have begun investing for retirement, it said. The study also highlights regional opportunities in retirement planning across India, with the east zone leading in overall preparedness, the west zone showing financial and health progress but needing emotional focus, and the north and south zones improving in health preparedness index, it said. "Although urban India's retiremen

The retirement index comprises three indices with the following weights: financial index (31 per cent), health index (61 per cent), and emotional index (8 per cent)

70% of urban Indian household surveyed likely to use stores and market for shopping

According to the report, shopping frequency has increased across channels, with more frequent visits to both modern trade and online platforms

Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday decided that state ministers will have to pay their Income Tax, instead of the state government bearing such burden. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in a statement said the cabinet has taken a decision to strike off the 1972 rule, under which the state government was paying the Income Tax on the salaries and perks of ministers. The cabinet decided that all ministers will pay the Income Tax on their salaries and allowances, Yadav said. State Urban Administration Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said during the cabinet meeting, the chief minister gave a suggestion that the ministers themselves pay their Income Tax. The suggestion was accepted and hence the decision was taken in this regard, he said.