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Road to Smart Cities not smooth: WEF report

The problems in the business environmentstemmed from these bureaucratic processes, where obtaining licences and approvals takes a long time, and land acquisition is fraught with delays and uncertainties, according to the report. The dispute resolution system also adds to businesses’ costs.

“In most cases, when an urban development project becomes involved in a dispute, activities are stalled, as are vendor payments. With poor cost recovery and high legal costs, companies engaged in disputes find it difficult to sustain their activities.”

Crucial role

“ULBs (urban local bodies) will play a crucial role in implementing the urban rejuvenation programmes, but they lack the resources to execute the programmes,” according to the ‘Reforms to Accelerate the Development of India’s Smart Cities’ report by the WEF and PwC. “A survey on smart cities highlighted the fact that city governments are the least-prepared to execute the programmes from among all the stakeholders, which include the national government, state governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academic institutions,” the WEF report added. Apart from poorly organised city administrations, the report also highlights the paucity of funds which urban local bodies are facing.

“The revenue collected by ULBs in India is less than 0.9 per cent of the gross domestic product, significantly less than that of Brazil (7.4 per cent) and South Africa (6 per cent).”

The report also highlights sector-specific problems, such as water management, where around 50 per cent of water production is lost due to theft or leakages during the distribution process, the lack of metering, and low user charges.

Waste treatment is another area with limited private sector interest.

“The majority of cities have not yet unlocked the revenue stream from treated waste water, thereby attracting limited interest from the private sector,” the report said, adding that most of the Indian population anyway defecates in the open.

There are other infrastructural issues plaguing India’s urban centres, such as the unavailability of 100 per cent power, the poor quality of roads, and the paucity of social infrastructure in healthcare, and safety and security.

Smart cities need institutional reforms for pvt participation: WEF-PwC report

The report has recommended institutional reforms, business-environment reforms and sector-specific reforms for the project. Under institutional ones, it talks of a unified command structure across multiple planning and administrative bodies within a city, and devolution of power to local government to determine and collect user charges and taxes, to make local bodies financially independent.

For business-environment reforms, it has laid out a road map for formulating public-private partnerships in projects. It elaborates on how cities elsewhere have adopted measures that reduce risk in such partnerships.

Under sector-specific reforms, it has recommended setting up of independent regulators and empowering them where they already exist, among other steps.

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