Eight New Cities To Be Developed In India Soon, Says Official

The central government will develop eight new cities to meet the demand of expansion of urban areas, a senior official said today.

The 15th Finance Commission, set up by the government, has recommended an outlay of Rs 8,000 crore for developing eight new cities in eight states.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said the ministry will come out with a detailed framework for executing the first-of-its-kind project.

Asked whether it would be a greenfield project, Mr Mishra said, "Yes. We will create a system on how to develop new cities.... The government will work out the framework that may take six months or even one year."

He said that in the country, no new cities have come up for many years, adding that the the Finance Commission has granted Rs 8,000 crore to incubate new cities.

According to the ministry, Rs 1,000 crore will be available for each city.

"The country needs new cities...unless we get planned cities, there would then be outgrowth," he said.

While the framework for developing the new cities will be worked out later, Mr Mishra pointed out that there are such areas that exist just outside the jurisdiction of a city administration.

Census towns may be considered for the new project. However, there is no clarity yet as the project is in its initial stage, a source said.

Mr Mishra said that a census town is an area with a population of more than 5,000 and a population density of over 400 per square kilometres, and wherein more than 75 per cent of male population are engaged in non-agriculture work.

On several occasions, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh have said that around 40 per cent of India's population are likely to reside in cities by 2030.