Addressing a post-Budget webinar on the subject of urban development on Wednesday; March 1, 2023, Prime Minister Modi shared his thoughts on the development planning measures involved in laying out of cities today and that used during the post-independence past, claiming them to be unfit and in some aspects redundant for the demands and needs of the current growing populous.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech emphasized the importance of adequate urban planning stating, “well-planned cities that will determine the fate of India”.

He addressed the unplanned development and expansion of most major Indian cities of today that were done in the recent past to the days post independence, has led to hindrances in numerous major expansion and development projects needed to house the ever-growing urban population.

The prime minister asked the present stakeholders to focus chiefly on three major questions and the best course of action to be taken in answering them—how to improve states’ urban planning ecosystem, how to use the expertise available in the private sector, and how to develop centres of excellence for urban planning. He also encouraged the endless oppurtunites and benefits associated with the participants’ possible joint ventures with rising start-ups in the sector.

“Urban planning will determine the fate of our cities in Amrit kaal and it is only well-planned cities that will determine the fate of India,” PM Modi said in his speech during the virtual gathering. Apart from PM Modi, other notable political figures and officials present for the event included, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar and Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat.

The meeting that was the sixth of the 12 such post-Budget webinars, Prime Minister asked the concerned groups like the mayors, municipal councilors, sanitation workers, and academics among others of these cities across India to provide their input at the zonal level to the national in order to come up with ideas to improve urban planning practices in cities.

“Our new cities must be garbage-free, water secure, and climate-resilient…The plans and policies that the government is making should not only make life easier for the people of the cities but also help in their own development,” he said describing the necessary additions and facilities that were needed by every major Indian city today .

He iterated that this circular economy would become the basis for urban development. He shed light on the large amounts of non biodegradable wastes such as batteries, electronics, automobile parts and tyres that are being discarded along with municipal solid waste every day and require specialized maintenance. He said the country’s waste processing had witnessed an increase from the 14-15 per cent of daily waste in 2014 to the 75 per cent done now. He added that had such a development always been the norm, the city boundaries of India would not be covered with mountains of human garbage and waste, he said.