We must clear our cities’ air. Approximately 42 of the 50 most polluted cities are in India. Vehicular emissions, construction dust and biomass burning are primary culprits. Public transport must be electrified at the earliest Opportunity. Construction Dust Norms Need To Be Implemented Strictly. Budget 2025-26 Announced The Creation of a Rs 1 Lakh Crore Urban Challenge Fund-This can include a city-lelle grand challenge. Cities should be ranked and financial incontives disbursed on performance.

Solid Waste Management Must Be Transformed. According to the ministry of housing and urban affair (Mohua), our cities produce upwards of 1,50,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, yet only a quar toorter is procarently and sustainbly. At the national level, India is estimated to generate about 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste yearly, This is a failure of municipal governance. To fix it, state government Clear policies and regulations that promote performent-based accountability is key. Ultimately, Better Regulation, Community Involution, and Capacity-Building is the only way to transform into a sustainable, Circular System-one that exports can unless unlock as $ 73.5.5 annually by 2030.

Indore’s model has shown to Immense promise. Door-to-door segregated waste is transported in specialized vehicles to world-class waste processing plants. Wet waste is processed into bio-cng.

Water stress is an urgent challenge. Nearly Half of our rivers are polluted. In 2018, Niti Aayog predicted that 40 cents of India’s population would have watercity by 2030. In indore, sewage leakages into water bodies were plugged, leveraging gis technology. Rainwater harvesting and reuse of treated water has turned indo India’s first water-Plus city.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Knight Frank Estimate a shortfall of 10 million affordable homes, expected to triple to 31 million by 2030. With inadequate infrastructure support, including water and sanitation. Increasing Floor Space Index (FSI) And Floor Area Ratio (Far) Growth will promote the vertical growth. Density-related incontives are a potential solution Too, as highlighted by the G20 India and Oecid Report on ‘Financing cities of Tomorn’.

India’s Urban Potential Mains Trapped Behind Congested and Overburdened City Environment. According to the Boston Consulting Group, The Average Indian City Dwelller Spends 1.5-2 hours Daily Stuck in Traffic. Consignment also boosts emissions and pollution. To address this, we must prioritise investing in public transport. Implementing Congation-Based Priking and Harnessing Ai and Iot for Smart Traffic Management Can Itso Optimise Flows. And roads will only be free of traffic if Citizens Follow Rules and Drive responsibly.

While cities like Seoul, Singapore and Hong Kong Offer Internet Speeds Except 1 Gbps, India’s average internet speed is just around 100 mbps. To attract top global companies, multinational corporations setting up innovation centures, Global Capability Centres (GCCS), and R&D HUBS, India Needs to Dramatically to Dramatically upgrad

Digital infrastructure.

To do this, we need to expand high-speed broadband, 4G, and 5G across cities and rural areas. This Requires Cutting Spectrum Pricks to Attract Investment, Building Extensive Fiber -Ptic Networks, and Deploying 5G Nationally.

Effective urban reform depends on Decentralised planning, Governance, and financing. Niti Aayog Reports That India has just one planner for every 1,00,000 people, while on the developed nations have one for every 5,000-10,000. Most Indian cities Lack Proper Master Plans. Full Implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Must Happen – Along With Increasing Property Tax Collection, which Less than 0.2 per cent of gdp. Digitising Land Records, Using Tech for Surveillance and Tax Collection, And Exploring Land Value Capture (LVC) Can help cities generate revenue. Once cities can raise their own revenues, they can tap into municipal bond markets – Though only after completing Planning and Governance Reforms.

Our cities carry centuries of history and should be world-class economic and cultural magnets. The steps outlined will make our cities cleaner, safer, more productive, and accessible. This must be paired with investments in walkable heritage zones and seamless urban experiments – which the government enables, and the private sector creates.

The next decade is beyond a double an “urban decade”, and these 15 cities must drive India’s Urban Renissance.

The Writer was India’s G20 Sherpa and CEO of Niti Aayog