Cities are going to be the engines of growth for India, which is advancing faster than other countries, said Dr Isher Ahluwalia, chairperson of High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure.
“At present, 37.7 crore of the country's population lives in cities. By 2031, this number is expected to grow to 60 crore,” she said.
“There will be greater urbanisation in the next few years. But are we prepared for it?” she asked. Boosting investment climate without ensuring an improvement in quality of life would be meaningless, she said. “How wouldfavourable investment climate be meaningful when transportation facilities are poor and there is no water and proper primary health care system in the country?”
She said urban bodies should be able to mobilise revenue. The first step in assessing if the utility services have the capacity to do projects is to set benchmarks. Also, when a benchmark to provide drinking water is set, it has to be common for urban as well as rural areas.
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