By Naveen Singla

The future of India depends on its cities. How well they are planned, governed and managed will decide the course of the India’s growth. India has to build inclusive cities for sustaining the growth momentum. As of now the urban areas contribute two thirds to our GDP.

According to the research by MKI (Mckinsey Global Institute), Indian cities would produce 70 percent of its GDP, 70 percent of its employment and will also fuel close to four fold increase in per capita income by the year 2030.The cities with one million plus population will reach 68 up from 42 today. This year our country has become the world’s most populous country surpassing China with a population close to 142.86 crore.

It is the cities only which are the huge recipients of FDI and it is in the cities where the main innovation and technological pursuits are being done. Cities are the main harbingers of growth and contributors in country’s success and if we have to achieve the national aspiration level of $10 trillion economy by 2030 and $30 trillion by 2050, our cities have to be managed well.

It is worth mentioning here that cities are also critical for meeting our climate change commitments as most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in cities and urban conglomerations. The cities will provide majority of the tax revenue collections which will fund the development in the whole country.

India is going to witness one of the largest natural urban transformations in the coming years. India’s urban population will reach 590 million by the year 2030 and the urban households will increase to 91 million as compared to 22 million today. This will put a huge burden on the available resources in the urban areas. The Mckinsey study says that investment to the tune of 1.2 trillion dollars would be required in the coming years.

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https://epaper.dailyworld.in/Details.aspx?id=102530&boxid=78350&uid=&dat=2023-05-02