NITI Aayog to organise a two day Workshop on Public Private Partnership in Urban Infrastructure tomorrow

 

NITI Aayog will organize a two day long Capacity Building Workshop on Best Practices in Public Financing (Public Private Partnership) of Urban Infrastructure on July 21-22, 2016 at Hotel Ashok in New Delhi. The focus is on the following areas: The PPP process: key success factors from the government perspective, PPP models and payment mechanisms, planning & preparation for PPP projects, introduction to urban challenges, demand driven master planning and developing viable business, city infrastructure required to enable smart cities and practical viewpoint on implementation of smart cities. During the workshop, national & international case studies in areas of water & waste management and urban development would also be discussed. The participants would also brainstorm possible solutions for key challenges being faced by them. 

The participants in the Workshop would include Municipal Commissioners and other Officers from State Governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Representatives from Union Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Finance Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Science and Technology, National Disaster Management Authority, NITI Aayog etc. would take part in the deliberations. Experts from institutions like National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and School of Planning & Architecture, Delhi would also participate in the Workshop. Member of NITI Aayog Dr Bibek Debroy, , CEO Amitabh Kant would address the participants at the opening session tomorrow. 

This is the third workshop on Urban Management Program developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and Temasek Foundation, Singapore for Capacity Building of officials of State Governments and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in urban sector. The Programme was launched on 27th April, 2016 in New Delhi. The Programme focusses on Capacity Building of officials of State Governments and Urban Local Bodies in three critical areas of urban rejuvenation viz., (i) Urban Planning & Governance, (ii) Water, Wastewater & Solid Waste Management and (iii) Public Financing (PPP) of Urban Infrastructure. This unique initiative of NITI in partnership with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and Temasek Foundation Singapore provides a platform to State Governments/ULBs to share the challenges being faced in urban transformation in these key areas and to evolve and design efficient solutions to some of these challenges through partnership with urban sector experts from Singapore. Seven states viz., Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi & Assam are participating in this Programme. The Singapore experts are from Surbana Jurong, CH2M Hill and PricewaterhouseCoopers. After the Programme Launch on 27th April 2016, the first capacity building workshop on Urban Planning & Governance was held on 28th & 29 April, 2016 in New Delhi and the second workshop under this Urban Management Programme, on Water, Wastewater and Solid Waste Management was held on 16th & 17th June 2016 in New Delhi. 



Background: 

Urbanisation offers an opportunity to India to achieve higher economic growth as cities provide economies of agglomeration. Urbanisation level in India, which was around 31 per cent in census 2011 is estimated to increase and reach 40 per cent by 2030 in percentage terms, the urbanisation level may appear to be modest, however in absolute numbers it is very large. Urban population of India is more than the entire population of United States of America or Brazil. The urban economy has also witnessed significant growth and is contributing to around 60 per cent of GDP. However, to reap the full benefits of urbanisation, it is important that it is efficient and sustainable. 

Rapid urbanisation is increasing the pressure on provision of basic services to citizens like water, sanitation and mobility in the urban areas in the country. Infrastructure deficit is increasing the coping costs as well as leading to loss of productivity in the cities. It is also adversely affecting the ability of cities in attracting investment in this globalized world. Governance in urban centres is also emerging as a major challenge particularly with the increasing number of census towns. Further, with the increasing pressure on natural resources, sustainability of cities is emerging as a major concern. A deficiency in processing and scientific disposal of urban waste is resulting in a situation where Indian cities are polluting water bodies, degrading soil and environment at a much larger scale than they use these resources. Environmental sustainability of Indian cities is therefore becoming a major imperative for guiding efficient urbanisation. 

Therefore it is necessary to take measures to ensure that the urbanisation is efficient. It is imperative to improve the provisioning of basic infrastructure and governance in our cities so that the cities enable better living and drive economic growth and emerge as ‘Engines of Economic Growth’ and moreover do so in a sustainable manner. The urban centres have to become areas of intense mobility, socio-economic activity and hope for a large number of population. To transform the urban landscape in the country, the Government has recently launched the Urban Rejuvenation Mission (URM) comprising of Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All. The 74th Constitutional Amendment accorded constitutional status to the municipal bodies by initiating a process of democratic decentralisation with the objective of making urban governance more responsive. In order to meet the growing aspirations and expectations of people, and to meet the challenges of urbanisation, governance in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) needs to become more efficient, effective, responsive, citizen friendly, transparent and accountable. Currently, many Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) do not have sufficient capacity to plan, finance and implement efficient, smart and sustainable solutions for urban problems. 

In order to effectively realise the vision of urban transformation, one of the key objectives is to build sufficient capacities in the Urban Local Bodies and State Government in urban management and provide greater financial and functional autonomy to the ULBs. In this backdrop, NITI Aayog has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) to tap the expertise of Singapore in urban sector to build capacities in State Governments and ULBs to facilitate in implementation of the Urban Rejuvenation Mission. 

 

Courtesy – Press Information Bureau, Government of India