"Cityscapes 2002" Global Convention on Agenda for Urban Infrastructure Reforms
October 21-22, 2002, New Delhi

Presidential Address by Shri O Rajagopal, Minister of State for Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation 

Honourable Minister of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Shri Ananth Kumarji; Mr Len Duvall  OBE, Chairperson, CLGF; Shri Rajendra S. Lodha, President, FICCI; Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General – FICCI; Shri Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman, Housing & Public Works Committee; Secretary (Urban Development); Distinguished delegates and friends; Ladies and Gentlemen.  It is my proud privilege to be here in this august gathering and extend a warm welcome to all of you.

Rapid growth of population and its concentration in cities around the world are affecting the long term outlook for humanity.  Despite 4 millennia, as Centres of civilization and economic activities, cities never attracted more than a few per cent of the global population until the last century.  Now at the beginning of the 21st century, system of cities has become a dominant factor in the world’s socio-economic cultural and political matrix.

Burdened with all the problems of growth, cities are increasingly subject to dramatic crisis, especially in developing countries.  Unemployment, environmental degradation, lack of urban services, deterioration of existing infrastructure and the lack of access to land, finance and adequate shelter are among the main areas of concern.

India is a part of the global trend towards increasing urbanization in which more than half of world’s population is living in cities and towns.  As per 2001 census 285 million of India’s population lives in urban areas making it the second largest urban system in the world.  However, the unplanned and uncontrolled rapid growth in our urban areas has serious negative effects on urban dwellers and their environment.  The provision of infrastructure facilities and services, required to support large concentrations of population, is lagging far behind the pace of urbansiation.  Most of the cities and towns in the country have serious shortage of power, water supply, sewerage, developed land, housing, transportation, communication and other civic facilities.  Large proportions of urban population, particularly in metropolitan cities, are far below the poverty line.  This has resulted in proliferation of slums, growth of the informal sector, lack of educational facilities and deteriorating health level to a large section of urban inhabitants.  The legal and administrative system concerning urban planning, governance and management need to address these issues.

The major urban concern is the growing gap between demand and supply of basic civic amenities.  In fact, increased urbanization is accompanied by severe environmental problems which adversely affect the quality of life of the people living in urban areas.  While problems have been increasing, both in magnitude and complexity, the resource allocation has been going down.

The urban areas in the country being the centres of production of goods and services have acquired an important role in the globalization regime.  Augmentation of basic services and urban infrastructure to improve the quality of life of urban inhabitants as well as to facilitate economic growth requires huge investment of funds.  Though municipal finances shall have to be self-supportive, they are presently too fragile to meet the increasing demand for resources emanating from the process of urbanization and economic development.  Therefore, innovative strategies are required to be developed by the Urban Local Bodies to reduce the mis-match between its functions and sources of revenue.  Enhancing the productivity of urban areas is now central to the policy pronouncement of the Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation.  For Indian cities to become growth oriented and productive, it is essential to achieve a world class urban system, which in turn would depend on attaining efficiency and equity in the delivery and financing of urban infrastructure.  

In recent years, the Central Government has provided several fiscal incentives to help mobilization of resources for urban infrastructure.  These include permitting the issuance of Tax Free Municipal Bonds, broadening the definition of infrastructure to include urban infrastructure such as water supply and sanitation, removing restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment in urban infrastructure and encouraging externally assisted urban sector projects and Public Private Partnership.  Although these initiatives are in right direction still many more such steps are needed for giving pace to the urban reform process.

I strongly hope that the deliberations during the Convention would lay the foundation for developing a critical understanding of meeting the challenges in the field of urban infrastructure.  I wish the Convention all success.

JAI HIND