The High Powered Expert Committee on Indian Urban Infrastructure and Services, chaired by Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia, was set by the Ministry of Urban Development in May 2008 for estimating the investment requirements for urban infrastructure services.
The central message of the report is that urbanization is an inevitable outcome of the faster rates of growth to which the economy has now transited. Urbanization is seen as a process that will support growth.
The Committee has made recommendations on how to deal with the challenges of urbanization.The Committee has projected very large investment requirements for providing public services to specified norms and also supporting the growth process.
The HPEC posits that the challenge of financing these investments is inextricably linked with the challenge of governing the cities and towns of India. The Committee has proposed a framework for governance and financing which will enable the municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats.
At the workshop on 29 Sept 2011, organized to discuss the findings of the HPEC, Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja while appreciating the report stressed the need for further capacity building in city governments and also expressed the need for supporting the informal sector, which is the major driving force behind the economic growth of a city.
The HPEC has asked for feedback from States and Cities on the report. The HPEC report and the deliberations on it are expected to pave the way for planning the next phase of JnNURM, or what is called the New Improved JnNURM (NIJnNURM) in the HPEC presentation.
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Report
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Presentation
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Minutes of deliberations at Vigyan Bhawan, 29 Sept 2011