THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Urbanisation will be a crucial driver of India’s economic growth and its transformation into a developed nation by 2047, according to Arvind Panagariya, chairman of the 16th Finance Commission.
He was speaking during Lok Bhavan Conversations, a public dialogue series, on the theme ‘Urban areas as growth engine for Viksit Bharat 2047’ at the Lok Bhavan on Tuesday.
“India’s aspiration to become a developed and globally competitive $30-trillion economy by 2047 cannot be achieved without productive, resilient and well-governed cities. Virtually every developed country has a high degree of urbanisation. India, too, has a long history of urban development and should not be apologetic about pursuing urbanisation,” Arvind said.
The focus of urbanisation should go beyond improving living conditions for existing urban populations, he said, adding that cities must become business-friendly and job-friendly so that they can attract people from rural areas and generate employment.
“Economic activity drives urbanisation,” he said, while listing scarcity and high cost of urban land among the biggest constraints on economic activity in Indian cities.
“Acquiring large parcels of land for industrial and business activities remains extremely difficult as land holdings are highly fragmented and definitive land titles are often unavailable.”
He cited the example of the Singur project in West Bengal, where thousands of individual land parcels had to be acquired, in contrast to large projects in countries such as the US where land ownership is less fragmented.
He called for reforms to make land available more easily for productive economic activity and to reduce the bottlenecks associated with land acquisition and urban development.
In his address, Governor Rajendra Arlekar said urbanisation should not be equated with Westernisation.
India’s urban development must evolve from its own culture, traditions and thought processes rather than simply importing Western models, he emphasised.
Arlekar said urbanisation would make an important contribution to the economic development of the country and the realisation of the Viksit Bharat vision.
Tuesday’s event was the sixth edition of Lok Bhavan Conversations, a lecture and interaction series organised to promote informed public discourse on issues of national importance.
The session also featured an interaction with Arvind and saw participation from officials, academics and other guests.
