DELHI 13TH MOST LIVEABLE INDIAN CITY, B’LURU BEST

The 2020 report noted the index was born out of the need to measure the outcomes of programmes and verify whether interventions were effective in ushering progress. The rankings are crucial in shaping government policies and determining expenditure priorities. West Bengal didn’t participate in the process. “India’s steady economic growth is reflected in the rapid expansion of her cities… with the current urbanisation rate, India is expected to have 50% of the country’s population residing in cities within the next 30 years,” Puri said.

Overall, Indian cities achieved an average score of 53.51. “Scope of improvement is thus imminently evident in improving the ease of living in Indian cities,” the report said.

The report also included a citizen perception survey in which 3.22 million citizens across 111 cities participated. The survey had an average score of 76.08, indicating that despite variance in scores, citizens had a largely positive perception of their cities. “In fact, the CPS scores have contributed to significantly elevating the ranking of various cities, even if they had low scores in the pillars,” the report said.

Navi Mumbai, Greater Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan-dombivli ranked ahead of Delhi at 6th,10th, 11th and 12th positions respectively. Also ahead of the national capital were Chennai (4th), Surat (5th), Coimbatore (7th), Vadodara (8th) and Indore (9th).

The national capital region towns of Ghaziabad (30th), Meerut (36th) and Faridabad (40th) performed poorly in the million-plus category. Gurugram ranked 8th in the rankings of smaller cities.

The ministry also drafted a Municipal Performance Index 2020 to determine elements that prevent efficient local governance. In the million+ category, Indore emerged as the topper, followed by Surat and Bhopal while Guwahati, Kota and Srinagar ranked lowest.

Among municipalities catering to a population of a less than a million, New Delhi Municipal Council was the leader, followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar while Shillong, Imphal and Kohima were at the bottom.

The MPI examined the sectoral performance of 114 municipalities (Delhi being assessed separately for NDMC, and three municipal corporations) across five verticals that comprise 20 sectors and 100 indicators. The five verticals under MPI are services, finance, policy, technology and governance, the report noted.

“The EOLI primarily seeks to accelerate India’s urban development outcomes,” the report said.