‘Sustainable urbanisation and better municipal governance needed to fuel growth in India’

Municipal governance in India has collapsed, and better municipal governance is a key reform that needs to happen in India, said Amitabh Kant, former G20 Sherpa and CEO, NITI Aayog.

Speaking on the second day of the Nilgiris Economic Dialogue, Mr. Kant, who was taking questions from the attendees at the event, said that “Sustainable urbanisation was a key tool for driving development in the country. We have failed miserably as a country in shaping the right institutions and governance. We have spoiled every single city, all of which have become unlivable, are dens of corruption and have become huge areas of dirt, garbage and filth, including the capital of India,” he said.

Mr. Kant said that while there were some “islands of excellence” such as Indore and Surat, that communities in cities need to step up and drive such transformations across the country.

“Municipal governance has collapsed, and municipal governance is the key to better livelihoods and growth of the country,” he said, adding that good governance in urban cities could contribute to an additional two percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

He added that it was the responsibility of States to drive this change. “States must drive this. Because municipal governance has become a huge source of corruption. Every building is subject to corruption,” he added.

When questioned about how countries such as China were clamping down on corruption and whether such measures needed to be implemented to stamp out corruption, Mr. Kant said that while the Chinese form of governance cannot be replicated in India, that it was his belief that over the long run, that a democratic system of governance will prevail.

“You can’t do the things that are done in China, but within democracy, instead of having chaos, you need good institutions and rule of law to prevail,” he said.