Urban Development

PM Modi launches development projects worth Rs 7,600 crore in Maharashtra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday virtually laid the foundation stone of various development projects of more than Rs 7,600 crore in Maharashtra. He laid the foundation stones of the upgradation of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur and the New Integrated Terminal Building at the Shirdi Airport in the state via video conference. The prime minister also virtually inaugurated the Indian Institute of Skills Mumbai and Vidya Samiksha Kendra in Maharashtra and launched 10 new government medical colleges in the state. The upgradation of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur will be done with a total estimated project cost of around Rs 7,000 crore, as per officials. It will serve as a catalyst for growth across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, aviation, tourism, logistics, and healthcare, benefitting Nagpur city and the wider Vidarbha region. The New Integrated Terminal Building at the Shirdi Airport, to be set up at a cost of Rs 6

Govt planning to form 'Golden City Club' for top-performing cities: Khattar

The government is planning to introduce the 'Golden City Club' initiative aimed at recognising cities that consistently excel in various development indicators, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced on Friday. Khattar explained that this initiative will create a special category for cities which hold top ranks in government assessments across the country. "This year, we have devised a plan where those cities that come first every time will be grouped into a separate category called the 'Golden City Club,'" the union minister said. He further elaborated that only cities securing top positions in their respective categories would be included in the club. Each year, a new city that bags the top ranks in its vertical will be added to this prestigious club. "Every year, the top-ranking city will join the Golden City Club, and there will be separate competitions for this club," Khattar explained. However, the club will not be permanent for its members. Cities that fail to mainta

Gujarat flooding worsened by extensive urban development, shows study

The recurrence of unusual weather events along India's western coast, such as the one witnessed last week, highlights the urgent need to reassess urban planning and infrastructure resilience

Odisha's unemployment rate at 3.9%, situation worse in urban areas: Govt

Odisha had an unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent, which was higher than the national average of 3.2 per cent, Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Sampad Chandra Swain told the assembly on Friday. In a written reply to BJD MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo, Swain said Odisha was in the 21st position among all states and Union Territories in the unemployment rate as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2022-23 conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). While the unemployment rate in the state's rural areas was 3.6 per cent, it was 6.2 per cent in the urban areas, he said. There were 11,04,229 youths -- 3,86,699 females and 7,17,530 males, who registered themselves with different employment exchanges in the state till May 31, 2024, he added. The highest number of 1,37,986 people registered at the special employment exchange for SC/ST. A total of 57,855 people registered with the employment exchange in Puri, followed by 54,001 people with the exchange in Berhampur in .

Budget's inclusive urban development plan could not have been more timely

The economic growth that we envisage for becoming a high-income country cannot be achieved if our cities are not planned in a way to reach their maximum potential

Bharadwaj asks Delhi CS to explain 'pending decisions' claim on drainage

In the ongoing spat between Delhi government ministers and the bureaucrats, Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday sought explanation from the chief secretary on his claim of "pending decisions" on drainage plans. Bharadwaj, who is also the irrigation and flood control minister, said in his note to Naresh Kumar that he has confirmed with the department that no decision is pending because of him. The officers and ministers of the Delhi government were involved in a blame game in the aftermath of the death of three civil services aspirants after rain water flooded the basement library of a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar area on Saturday evening. Referring to a note of Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Revenue Minister Atishi on Monday, Bharadwaj said it has been claimed in the para 2.5 of the note that some decisions are pending on the part of the irrigation and flood control minister. He charged similar claims were also "planted" by the LG office on Monday. No

CM Siddaramaiah rejects BJP's demand for CBI probe into alleged MUDA scam

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday rejected the BJP's demand for a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) even as the opposition party intensified its protests against "fraudulent" allotment of sites to land losers. The BJP has alleged that alternative sites were also allotted to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been acquired by the MUDA, and sought his resignation. The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of over three acres of her land, which the authority had acquired for developing a residential layout. The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts. The BJP has alleged that irregularities to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore had taken place in distribution of si

NBCC gets Rs 70 cr contract from Grid-India for interior works in office

State-owned NBCC (India) Ltd has bagged a Rs 70 crore project from Grid Controller of India for executing interior works in new corporate office in the national capital. In a statement, NBCC said it has inked a memorandum of understanding with Grid Controller of India Ltd (Grid-India) for execution of interior, fit outs and other associated infrastructure works for their new corporate office at Ayurvigyan Nagar, New Delhi. "The tentative value of works to be executed under this MoU is approximately Rs 70 crore," it added. The MoU was signed by Alok Kumar, Senior General Manager, Grid-India and Mudit Bhatnagar, CGM (Engg), NBCC in the presence of S R Narasimhan, CMD, Grid-India; K P Mahadevaswamy, CMD, NBCC; B K Sokhey, Director (Finance), NBCC; Saleem Ahmad, Director (Projects), NBCC and other senior officials from both organizations. Earlier, Grid-India, which is responsible for National Load Dispatch, had purchased this new office of around 61,000 sq ft from NBCC at approximatel

Over $23 bn of sustainable infra projects identified at IPEF eco forum meet

As many as 69 sustainable infrastructure projects worth over USD 23 billion of investment opportunities were identified at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) clean economy investor forum meet in Singapore, according to a statement. The statement of Singapore's ministry of trade and economy, which hosted the meet, out of the 69 projects, 20 investment-ready projects worth about USD 6 billion were presented to investors at business matching sessions. Remaining projects worth about USD 17 billion were also identified as potential investment opportunities in future. The forum brought together about 300 participants from the Indo-Pacific region's top investors, cutting-edge project proponents, innovative start-up entrepreneurs, ministers and senior government officials. The Indian delegation was led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal. Organised by Singapore's ministry alongside the 13 other IPEF partners, the forum aims to facilitate high-quality business and .

Adani Dharavi project's biz units to get SGST refund post redevelopment

Business units in Dharavi will be able to enjoy a slew of benefits, including State GST refunds, once the redevelopment of the financial capital's largest slum is complete. The Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), a joint venture between Adani Group and the Maharashtra government, on Monday said this is a move to formalize local businesses and the tax sops are as per the tender conditions for the ambitious project. In a statement, DRP said eligible industrial and commercial units in redeveloped Dharavi will get SGST refunds for five years from the date of receipt of occupation certificate of the newly constructed buildings. A DRP spokesperson said the multi-thousand crore redevelopment project is set to transform the informal nature of businesses and added that the tax benefits will help both existing and new businesses become more competitive. SGST will be reimbursed by the state government's finance department and the business units will have to provide SGST payment details as pr

Previous govts had no policy to handle energy requirements: Hardeep Puri

Urbanisation and energy requirements were neglected by previous governments as the focus was more on rural development with the vision of India living in villages, said Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday. The central minister for housing and urban affairs was speaking at the first edition of Pune Public Policy Festival at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. As people started migrating to urban areas from semi-urban pockets for job opportunities, the economic calculation started going wrong since the previous governments did not have an urban policy in place, a media release said quoting the minister. The cumulative spent on urban space by the central government was about Rs 1,57,000 crore between 2004 and 2014. After 2014, we realised the challenges in urbanisation and we saw an opportunity in it, he said. The current government has increased its urban spent by 11 times, Puri said. Today, we are spending about Rs 18 lakh crore for this purpose. This expenditure

Industry gives call to regularise hotels in state's residential areas

Hotel owners feel that if their problems are resolved, Rajasthan will progress significantly in tourism

Development of small cities key to developed India resolve: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that his guarantee begins from where hope from everyone else ends and asserted that development of smaller cities is at the centre of his resolve to make India a developed country. Addressing the beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra through video conferencing, the prime minister said, "With resolve of a developed India, 'Modi's guarantee vehicle' is reaching every corner of country." In one month, the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra has reached thousands of villages and cities and most of them are small towns, he added. Modi said his government is trying to ease troubles of everyone like a family member. "This is our government that has helped the poor, farmers, small businessmen and various other sections of society. Modi's guarantee begins after hope from everyone else ends," he said. The prime minister said that for a long time after independence, benefits of development were limited to a few big cities, but his government i

Municipalities can look at escrow account structure to garner funds: Buch

Markets regulator Sebi's chief Madhabi Puri Buch on Wednesday said municipal authorities can look at having specific escrow accounts to garner funds for various urban infrastructure projects. At an event in the national capital, she said there are a good number of investors who are waiting to invest in urban infrastructure projects. She said that one thing that can help in garnering funds is credit ratings. Generally, an entity with a higher credit rating will be able to raise funds more easily compared to those having less credit worthiness. "Now, the question is to get credit rating. The beautiful part (of) what we have learnt over the last few years' issuances that we have had is (the) structure of creating escrow accounts and therefore, ring fencing certain cash flows. It has really created a fantastic structure in which investors have a lot of faith," the Sebi Chairperson said. Such an escrow account structure will give investors an understanding of "what is outside the ring

Grants-in-aid to be released on monthly basis to local bodies in Himachal

The grants-in-aid to Himachal Pradesh's 61 urban local bodies would henceforth be released on a monthly basis and not in one lump sum instalment or in advance, according to the Urban Development Department. The grants-in-aid of about Rs 153.64 crore was released and credited to the accounts of all urban bodies on July 25 under the Sixth State Finance Commission award. But the Urban Development department wrote to commissioners of the municipal corporations, the executive officers of the municipal councils and the secretaries of the nagar panchayats after the natural disaster in July, directing them to return 50 per cent of the grant amounting to around Rs 76.82 crore. The state finance department, vide its notification of August 8 issued economy instructions and financial guidelines for incurring expenditure and observed that departments are releasing the grants-in-aid and subsidies for state schemes either in one go or in some cases quarterly in advance. After due consideration, t

Health, educational facilities are urban development parameters: SC judge

Supreme Court Judge Abhay Oka on Saturday said urban development must not be just about high-rises, massive flyovers and roads but also parameters like affordable medical facilities and educational institutions. Justice Oka said the time had come to decide about what constitutes the parameters of development of any city. Speaking at the launch of a book titled 'Thane- The Eternal City' written by Joe Alavares, the SC judge said Thane city has a rich heritage and history. He, however, said the lakes and industries in the city have vanished over time. He appreciated the lecture series started by Thane municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar and said it helps educate citizens on topics like customs and tradition besides history. Addressing the gathering, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, president of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, said a day earmarked for Thane city should be celebrated in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of observing the foundation day of cities. The

Adani Group to begin Dharavi redevelopment with Rs 12,500 cr investment

A special purpose vehicle (SPV), jointly owned by the Adani Group (80%) and the Maharashtra government (20%), has been established for this purpose

World Cities Day 2023: Date, Theme, History, Importance on urbanisation

World Cities Day is here to promote sustainable urban development that is essential because of the rapid infrastructure development happening in the modern world

PM Modi to inaugurate development projects in Rajasthan worth Rs 7,000 cr

Union Minister Piyush Goyal accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of hindering Rajasthan's development

'One State-One Portal' to bring all ULB services under one canopy: CM Sukhu

The Chief Minister directed to make all the essential services like property tax, bill payments, notices, all types of NOCs and permissions online