Industry Agenda Reforms to Accelerate the Development of India’s Smart Cities

The report identifies critical gaps in India's urban infrastructure and governance, arguing that the success of the 100 Smart Cities and 500 AMRUT cities programmes depends on systemic reforms. It highlights institutional weaknesses in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), a restrictive business environment regarding land and permits, and financial instability in sectors like water and waste management. The document recommends empowering city mayors, implementing single-window permitting systems, and adopting bankable public-private partnership (PPP) models to attract private investment.

• India's urban population is projected to grow from approximately 410 million (32% of the total population) in 2015 to 814 million (50%) by 2050.
• Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are identified as the least prepared stakeholders to execute urban rejuvenation programmes due to a lack of empowered leadership, inadequate revenues, archaic processes, and insufficient institutional capacity.
• The water sector in urban India faces severe sustainability issues, with non-revenue water accounting for 50% of production and utility authorities recovering only 30-35% of operation and maintenance costs.
• The energy sector is hampered by high aggregated technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, which exceed 25% for most cities, and a lack of 100% electricity access in urban areas (currently at 93.9%).
• The business environment for urban development is constrained by lengthy permitting processes; for example, constructing a simple two-storey warehouse takes 147 days and requires coordination with over 20 departments.
• Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in India are often hindered by suboptimal risk sharing, where revenue risks are frequently passed to the private sector, and a lack of high-quality project preparation.
• The Smart Cities programme utilizes three area-based development strategies: retrofitting (smart solutions without major modifications), redevelopment (improving derelict areas), and greenfield (developing vacant areas).
• To improve governance, the report recommends empowering city mayors with higher administrative and executive powers and establishing a unified command structure for all urban planning and administrative bodies.
• The report suggests implementing a 'single-window' approval authority for permits to reduce delays and recommends the use of land tools such as Community Land Trusts, Land Pooling, and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).
• Sector-specific recommendations include establishing independent regulators for water, power, and mobility to determine user charges and implementing e-tendering to increase transparency in procurement.

APA

World Economic Forum (2016). Industry Agenda Reforms to Accelerate the Development of India’s Smart Cities. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reforms_Accelerate_Development_Indias_Smart_Cities.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Industry Agenda Reforms to Accelerate the Development of India’s Smart Cities. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reforms_Accelerate_Development_Indias_Smart_Cities.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Industry Agenda Reforms to Accelerate the Development of India’s Smart Cities |date=April 2016 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reforms_Accelerate_Development_Indias_Smart_Cities.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2016industry, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Industry Agenda Reforms to Accelerate the Development of India’s Smart Cities}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, month = apr, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Reforms_Accelerate_Development_Indias_Smart_Cities.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }