Context:

• As India aspires to become an over $30 trillion economy by 2047, its urban centres must drive innovation, job creation, and economic growth.
• However, the country’s top 15 cities face systemic issues — pollution, poor planning, weak governance, and infrastructure deficits.
• This article discusses key reforms to unlock their full potential in the coming “urban decade.”

The Engine of India's Future Growth:

• 15 cities — including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad — contribute 30% of India’s GDP.
• These cities can add 1.5% additional annual GDP growth and play a key role in achieving India’s long-term economic vision.
• Despite their importance, they remain plagued by pollution, traffic, slums, water stress, and inadequate digital infrastructure.

Environmental and Health Challenges in Urban Spaces:

• Air pollution crisis:
  • India hosts 42 of the world’s 50 most polluted
  • Key pollutants are vehicular emissions, construction dust, and biomass burning.
  • Solutions proposed includes -
    • Electrify public transport.
    • Strict enforcement of construction dust norms.
    • The Union Budget 2025-26 announced the ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund to rank cities and disburse financial incentives based on performance.
• Solid waste management - A missed opportunity:
  • According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Indian cities generate 1.5 lakh tonnes of solid waste per day, but only 25% is processed.
  • At the national level, India is estimated to generate about 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste yearly, of which only 30% is processed.
  • Reform steps:
    • Municipalities must procure equipment and train sanitation staff.
    • Encourage performance-based accountability and regulations.
    • Transition to a circular waste economy could unlock $73.5 trillion by 2030.
    • Best practice: Indore's bio-CNG and segregated waste model.

Urban Water Crisis and Solutions:

• Rising water stress:
  • As water stress is an urgent challenge, nearly half of our rivers are polluted.
  • In 2018, NITI Aayog predicted that 40% of India’s population would face water scarcity by 2030.
  • Cities lose 40-50% of piped water due to leakages.
• Water-sensitive urban planning - Indore’s innovations:
  • Sewage leakages into water bodies were plugged, leveraging GIS technology.
  • Rainwater harvesting and reuse of treated water have turned Indore into India’s first water-plus city.

Housing Deficit and Informal Settlements:

• Affordable housing gap:
  • Estimated shortfall: 10 million homes now, 31 million by 2030 (CII).
  • Rise of informal settlements and illegal colonies lacking sanitation and infrastructure.
• Vertical expansion and policy tools:
  • Increasing floor space index (FSI) and floor area ratio (FAR) growth will promote vertical growth.
  • As the G20 India and OECD report on "Financing Cities of Tomorrow" points out, density-related incentives are another possible remedy.

Urban Mobility and Congestion:

• Congestion crisis:
  • The average urban commuter loses 1.5–2 hours daily in traffic.
  • This is mainly due to overpopulation, weak public transport, poor enforcement.
• Smart urban mobility solutions:
  • Prioritise investment in public transport.
  • Use AI and IoT for real-time traffic management.
  • Introduce congestion pricing models.
  • Encourage citizen discipline and smart driving habits.

Digital Infrastructure Gaps:

• Slow internet speed:
  • Average speed: ~100 Mbps in India vs more than 1 Gbps in Seoul, Singapore.
  • To attract top MNCs, and for setting up innovation centres, global capability centres (GCCs), and R&D hubs, India needs to dramatically upgrade its digital infrastructure.
• Strengthening digital connectivity:
  • India needs to expand high-speed broadband, 4G and 5G across cities and rural areas.
  • This requires cutting spectrum prices to attract investment, building extensive fibre-optic networks, and deploying 5G nationally.

Governance and Financing Reforms:

• Weak urban planning capacity: India has 1 planner per 1,00,000 people, as against the global norm of 1 per 5,000–10,000. Most cities lack robust master plans.
• Strengthening decentralised governance:
  • Full implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment.
  • Increasing property tax collection, which is currently less than 0.2% of GDP.
  • Use digitised land records, land value capture (LVC), and municipal bonds post governance reform.

Reimagining Cities as Cultural-Economic Hubs:

• Promote walkable heritage zones and integrated urban experiences.
• Partnership between government (policy/infrastructure) and private sector (innovation/delivery).
• Cities must evolve into global magnets for business and culture, like Dubai or Singapore.

Conclusion - India’s Decade of Urban Transformation:

• India's top 15 cities must be empowered to lead the country's economic, cultural, and technological transformation by 2047.
• With focused investments in infrastructure, governance, environment, and digital access, these urban centres can spearhead India's journey toward becoming a $30 trillion economy and global powerhouse.