Private finance pivotal of urban development
India’s urban infrastructure is growing rapidly with nearly US$180 billion in new investment projected by 2040, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official.
Citing this projection from a recent survey, Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB’s Country Director and Indian Resident Mission, said his bank has invested around US$39.4 billion in India from 1986 to 2016.
Yokoyama was part of leading speakers at teh two-day Regional Conference on “Urban Development: Technological Solutions and Governance Challenges” being held in Ahmedabad 19-20 April 2018.
Prof O. P. Mathur, Senior Fellow and Head, Urban Studies at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi highlighted the challenging part of urban infrastructural development.
He pointed out that private finance is the major challenges faced by the sector.
There are no clear fiscal space for urban infrastructure development while there are many untapped opportunities which needs to be tapped for accelerating GDP growth to 9-10%.
At least US$640.2 billion is needed for urban infrastructure and services until 2031 to meet the needs of the growing urban population and improve the standard of living of the existing urban population.
This estimate was given by Bharat Patel, Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM Western Council spoke on the overall perspective of urbanization ratio of 32%, which is still low.
It is equally pivotal to ensure private sector participation in resource generation through effective mechanisms of costs, risks and benefit sharing, he said.
The Finance Ministry in collaboration with the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Gujarat Council along with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), an autonomous research organization under the Ministry of External Affairs organised the 2-day Regional Conference.
The Conference is a lead-up event to the 3rd Annual Meeting of AIIB scheduled to be held on 25th and 26th June, 2018 in Mumbai. fii-news.com
