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Journalism of Courage
Delhi has emerged as the most attractive city in the country for both foreign and domestic investors,according to the latest Asian Development Bank report on a survey of Indian cities. Greater Mumbai and Chennai follow Delhi closely as good metropolitan areas for investment.
In a survey of 27 cities,the competitiveness factors evaluated were: people,catalysts,infrastructure and financials.
The 2010 ADB report says that location precedes supplier selection in globalisation initiatives: Earlier,countries competed for location but now competition is often at a granular level between various cities. Lately,we are more likely to observe competition between Bangalore and Manila than between a generic India and the Philippines.
Against this backdrop,Delhis high quality of life,transportation infrastructure and cost-effective labour both skilled and unskilled have contributed in a big way to the citys economic growth,pitchforking it to the top in overall rankings, says the ADB report.
The Commonwealth Games and the infrastructure development as a result of this such as the international airport and the Metro rail network are among the major factors contributing to Delhis rise to the No.1 position.
Furthermore,the city is extremely well-connected to suburban cities along its periphery such as Gurgaon,Faridabad and Noida,making it the largest economic agglomeration in India, says ADB.
Though Greater Mumbais position remains unchallenged,its infrastructure lags far behind the pace of economic growth witnessed by the city. Several major infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai Urban Transport project and the Bandra Worli sealink are yet to show its effects on potential economic growth, the report says.
The ADB has ranked cities under five major categories: city prosperity index,urban governance,business environment,infrastructure index and quality of life. And the overall rating is based on these five comparatives.
The city prosperity index indicates the general affluence of the population,depth of consumer market and income and expenditure characteristics. These parameters affect the need and demand created for residential,retail and hospitality classes. The size of the population,too,has a direct relationship with the demand for housing.
The urban governance index shows the ease of doing business in a particular area which,of course,is subject to government regulations and reforms. So it measures the speed of policy implementation and quality of administration in a city. A favourable business environment includes parameters like availability of labour,composition of workforce and availability of finance.
The ADB report says that quality of infrastructure such as water and power supply,roads,public transport,crime and safety,environmental pollution and recreation and leisure options also influence investment options.
Chennais No. 3 ranking as a potential hub for future investments couple traditional reasons such as it being a major seaport known for its manufacturing industry and recent developments such as an exceptionally high investment of Rs 34,000 crore for upgrading its urban infrastructure.
According to the report,Bangalore is a major economic hub in the country with major IT,biotech and FMCG companies but its infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with its rapid economic growth.
Hyderabad,meanwhile,is fast emerging as a top slot city in India. It is currently witnessing an unprecedented growth and is set to become the fourth largest urban agglomeration by 2011,overtaking Bangalore. The city also has the highest number of formally approved IT SEZs in the country.
Among tier-two cities,Pune and Ahmedabad top the list and are expected to experience similar growth trajectories over the next decade.
According to the ADB study,the top 15 cities to invest in India are,as per rank: Delhi,Greater Mumbai,Chennai,Bangalore,Hyderabad,Kolkata,Pune,Ahmedabad,Surat,Chandigarh,Nagpur,Visakhapatnam,Vadodara,Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram.
