Officials update Expo 2020 Dubai on developments in India
India needs around US$700 billion of investment from 2021 to 2031 to boost its urban infrastructure services like Urban Mobility, Affordable Housing, Water Security, Clean India Mission and Smart Cities Mission, Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Smart Cities Mission), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, told reporters at the ‘Urban and Rural Development Week’ at the India Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.
“India is a US$3 trillion economy and aggressively moving towards becoming a US$10 trillion economy by 2030 and one of main constituents of this growth will be massive urbanisation happening in the country,” said Kumar.
“Rapidly urbanizing India presents exciting investment opportunities for private sector in Indian cities to address several challenges which include improving quality of urban services such as water, sanitation, urban transport and planned development of land resources,” he said.
“The Government has invested US$160 billion on creating and upgrading urban infrastructure and ensuring ease of living for the citizens since 2014. India’s investment in the urban sector has jumped by over 600% during 2014-2021 as compared to 2004-2014. Urban Development is the key to India’s growth because we need productive, liveable cities that ensure ease of doing business,” he said in a release on 1 Nov 2021.
Highlighting the opportunities in infrastructure, Kumar elaborated, “The Government has created a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for projects worth US$1.5 trillion to be completed between 2020-25. Major focus of NIP is across energy (24%), roads (18%), urban (17%) and railways (12%). Each of these urban mission presents opportunities for global companies to invest and grow.”
The US$28 billion Smart Cities Mission is realizing the vision of 100 ‘smarter’ Indian cities in addressing the challenges of increasing urbanization. The ultimate plan is to cover more than 4,000 cities in the country, he pointed out.
Kumar along with other Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs officials, Dinesh Kapila, Economic Advisor (Housing) and Jaideep, OSD (Urban Transport) briefed the media in Dubai.
The Ministry is showcasing its efforts being made in comprehensive urban development in India and exhibiting the multi-sectoral opportunities for the World during the ‘Urban and Rural Development Week’ in Dubai. The broad objective is to demonstrate India’s innovative case studies and attract investments to India, fostering market access for other countries.
Jaideep elaborated, “Urban Transport with a big focus on Metro Rail and other mass transit systems is a critical component of the comprehensive approach initiated towards urbanization.
“In the last seven years, we have operationalised 485 km of Metro network. In National Infrastructure Projects, we have sanctioned US$32 billion for projects worth a total of US$60 billion.
“The remaining is in planning stage to be implemented before 2024. We are also working on green urban mobility, sustainable and energy efficient transport system.”
Kapila spoke about huge opportunities in the real estate sector in India. “The size of the housing sector is currently US$200 billion in India, and it contributes around 7% to the GDP.
“The contribution of the real estate sector to the Indian economy is likely to be around US$1 trillion by 2030. As per an industry study, with massive urbanisation, every year we need to construct 700-900 million sq mt worth of houses, malls and offices.”
“There are huge opportunities in India in the next 10 years. Currently the atmosphere is very conducive for real estate sector and the economy,” he said. #tenders #infrastructure #investment #projects #development /fiinews.com
