Save our cities

Posted: 2007-06-07 00:00:00+05:30 IST
Updated: Jun 07, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST

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Even a glance at the investment requirements projected at the mega cities conference, held in New Delhi to take stock of the progress of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is enough to outline the challenges that lie ahead. None of India’s urban renewal efforts, initiated by the government with so much fanfare, appear to be proportional to what is actually needed. Just consider the gargantuan sums involved. Projects worth Rs 26,000 crore have been taken up in 63 cities under the JNNURM since 2005, and this sounds like a lot of money, especially in the context of past spending on urban renewal projects. But India’s cities are in such bad shape that the total envisaged spending that was put at Rs 1.2 lakh crore over a seven-year period starting in 2005, has now been revised to Rs 2.9 lakh crore—more than twice the original sum—now that every city has actually chalked out its needs and made proper estimates. Central grants for the scheme are expected to rise by Rs 1.4 lakh crore, with the states and local bodies burdened with the task of raising the rest on their own.

Clearly, urban renewal policies will require much greater clarity, apart from more innovative funding strategies, if anything is likely to come of all this planning. And there is no question that India’s cities are in desperate need of renewal, most of all the metropolises. While the demands of India’s seven ‘mega cities’ account for more than a quarter of the funds, around one-third is accounted for by projects in areas of water supply, drainage and sewage disposal, and one-fifth by transport sector projects. Money for the provision of basic services to the poor account for the remaining one-fifth. The conference has issued calls for stronger public-private partnerships, apart from expressing hope that assistance from both multilateral and domestic financial institutions would step in with the money. The recently launched arrangement of pooled finance development funds, created to facilitate such projects, could help improve the flow of funds. But unless there are signs that enhanced user service charges could create robust revenue models, private players are likely to stay aloof. The other problem is project overruns. As with the Delhi Metro project, we need executional bodies right now that can demonstrate that projects can and do get done on schedule.