Panaji, Sep 19 (IANS) India is at the cusp of making the transition from a developing to a developed country, thanks to its burgeoning economy and younger demographic profile.

To facilitate the transition and sustain the development phase spanning rural and urban India, policy makers, planners, mandarins and other stakeholders have sought a blueprint for a balanced growth, with a mechanism to prevent the repeat of urban chaos and decadence.

‘India needs a whopping Rs.2.5 trillion ($56 billion) for restructuring and expanding its urban infrastructure over the next decade to meet the growing requirements of its boom cities and towns across the country,’ Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said here Friday.

Participating in a special session on ‘Building New Cities’ at the Gerim realty summit here, Reddy admitted that the original estimate of Rs.1.2 trillion ($27 billion) for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) made in 2005 turned out to be conservative due to changing dynamics and phenomenal urban-centric growth (30 percent a year).

Relentless migration from rural areas and rapid urbanisation over the years are putting severe pressure on the woeful infrastructure in metros and tier-1 and tier-2 cities.

Due to skewed economic growth and lack of job opportunities in rural areas for the educated youth and landless labour, cities are getting choked with fresh influx into suburban and peripheral locations sans civic amenities and vital linkages such as transport and drinking water.

‘About 30 cities across the country have one million population, with metros such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata busting with over 15 million denizens. Growing at 6-8 percent annually, about 400 million people are projected to live in urban environment over the next five years,’ realty expert Amit Bagaria told about 200 delegates.

While 80 percent of the JNNURM funds have been earmarked for drinking water, solid waste management and sewerage system projects, public transport and housing continue to be a major concern.

‘In the last 30 months, we have released funds to the tune of Rs.300 billion ($6.6 billion) to some states, which have submitted proposals in conformity with the guidelines of our ministry,’ Reddy recalled.

Though the urban renewal mission is equally funded by the central and state governments through local bodies, Reddy said that going forward, the future projects would have to be taken up under the public-private partnership (PPP) model to meet the quantum of funds required.

‘As in the case of infrastructure projects, we may have to involve the private sector in a big way through the PPP model for sustaining the urban renewal mission and ensure that various civic projects are not held up for want of resources or budgetary release by states,’ Reddy said.

He also assured the delegates that a bill to regulate the realty sector in Delhi would be introduced in the next session of parliament.

‘The proposed legislation will be a model for other states to replicate, as issues pertaining to the realty sector like land acquisition, zonal and building regulations for industrial, commercial, retail and housing segments come under the state jurisdiction,’ Reddy observed.

With the shift from urban planning to timely implementation of projects emerging as a major challenge, stakeholders have favoured a regulatory authority to monitor and supervise execution, including raising funds.

‘The pace of economic growth in destination cities such as Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad has been hampered by the slow infrastructure implementation, poor anticipation of fresh influx and development,’ DivyaSree Developers CEO Santosh Martin lamented.