CII Calls For An Investment of US $1 Trillion By 2020 In Urban India

CII Calls For An Investment of US $1 Trillion By 2020 In Urban India

Report on ‘Intelligent Urbanization: Roadmap for India’ Proposes A New Framework For Sustainable Urbanization

The ‘Intelligent Urbanization: Roadmap for India’ report was released today by Mr. Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister for Urban Development, at the International Conference on Intelligent Urbanisation organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). During his address the Minister emphasised the need for capacity addition in a sustainable fashion and the need of local bodies to focus on urban infrastructure. He also highlighted the need to infuse technology to save water and build new urban cities. Mr. Reddy commended the Report with a special mention on the Framework for Sustainable Urbaniza­tion and its focus on social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Earlier addressing the gathering Mr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, said that “Urbanization has to be of the people, for the people and by the people”.Mr. Maira also suggested that there is a need to be considerate about the environment and that India’s development should be economically viable, inclusive and environmentally sustainable.

The Report recommends an investment of close to US $1 trillion from the government to improve basic urban services by 2020. The Report, prepared by Booz & Company in association with Cisco Systems for CII, examines the unique opportunities and challenges of urbanization in India and proposes a new framework for sustainable urbanization. CII defines the approach of Intelligent Urbanization as enhancing the citizen quality of life and social inclusion, boosting economic growth and decreasing our environmental impact.

“India is probably the only country which needs to not only revitalize some of the densest urban agglomerations in the world but also ensure the delivery of basic services to the lesser privileged in an efficient manner during this urban transformation. The opportunities and challenges are unique to India and therefore the solutions must be transformational, not incremental. Our solutions must help cities be truly sustainable: socially, economically and environmentally. India not only requires a massive investment from the government, but also the adoption of technology to make the investments more efficient supported by next generation smart government regulations and strategic public private partnerships,” said Wim Elfrink, chairman, CII Steering Committee on Intelligent Urbanisation and chief globalisation officer and executive vice president, Cisco Services.

The Report recognizes that for urbanization to be truly sustainable, India needs to adopt the Framework for Sustainable Urbaniza­tion. The Report emphasizes that the benefits of urbanization should be socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable and recommends three major thrust areas to ensure Intelligent Urbanization in India at the Urban Local Body (ULB) level.

* Strengthening basics through next generation smart regulation and financing
* Enhancing execution capabilities through strategic public private partnerships
* Embedding technology as the engine to drive efficiency and equity

“At CII, we believe infrastructure is the foundation for economic growth and well being of a society and accord the highest priority to infrastructure development. With over two-third of India’s GDP and 90% of the government’s revenue generated from cities and towns, it is imperative that our cities are smarter and more efficient to become more competitive enabled by the necessary infrastructure and services. CII’s recommendation is that India needs to adopt the Framework for Sustainable Urbaniza­tion to ensure the social, econom­ic and environmental well-being of our cities. The right investments in coordination with strategic public private partnerships and technology, as the enabler, will be the engines of growth for India to achieve intelligent urbanisation.” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.