Centre to spend Rs 18L cr over next 5-6 yrs on planned urbanisation, says Naidu

Aiming to ensure planned urbanisation, assured amenities and decent urban life, Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu said that the Urban Ministry has unleashed an investment potential of about Rs 18 lakh crore within the next five to six years. 

Naidu also added that by 2051, half of India’s population is expected to reside in urban settlements along with 100 plus metropolitan cities. He further added: “One of the mandates that was been given to my ministry is to implement the 74th Constitutional Amendment which empowers the municipalities through elected representatives. Even though the 74th CAA was enacted in 1992, it still requires full implementation throughout the country.”

Among other things, Naidu focused on giving more power to the MCDs. “States are always asking for more powers and at the same time they have to devolve more powers to local bodies and this has not been happening. I urge upon the states to devolve more 3Fs — funds, functionaries and functions to Urban Local Bodies (ULB) inorder to empower them so that they can serve the people in a better way.

Highlighting that the municipalities will have to explore new avenues for fund mobilization and financial self sufficiency, the UD Minister said that there are several market interventions and mechanisms like asset restructuring of municipalities and municipal bonds. 

“Asset restructuring of municipalities is one of them. Most of the municipalities have lands available with them but they are not used properly. They are either encroached or left vacant. You have to think of monetisation of land. Develop a part of it through the PPP and use the resources for the activities of municipality,” Naidu said. He further said that the municipal bonds are another attractive option. “For this, the city has to first achieve good credit ratings. The UD Ministry has empanelled six agencies including FITCH, CRISIL and ICRA for this. The state government can engage any of them to do the job,” he added. Naidu highlighted said the ministry has set forth an investment potential of about Rs 18 lakh crore in the next five to six years. 

“This includes Rs 1 lakh crore for Atal Mission, Rs 2.5 lakh crore under Smart City Mission, Rs 66,009 crore under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) and Rs 13.50 lakh crore under housing mission (urban).