Hyderabad: Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said that we need Rs 25,000 crore for basic urban infrastructure in the next 20 years and this offers huge investment opportunities to international investors.
The government is committed to promote private domestic and foreign investment in a big way, he said.
The minister told XI Metropolis World Congress that began here Tuesday that the government has decided to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in infrastructure.
While inaugural session of the conference, he said, “As per estimates of a high power committee, India needs Rs 25,000 crore in 20 years to put in place basic urban infrastructure relating to transport, water supply, sanitation and solid waste management alone.”
Over 1,000 participants, including 135 from 40 countries, are attending the five-day conference to discuss and deliberate on various aspects of making urban cities inclusive with the theme for the event being ‘Cities for All’.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan declared open the conference being held in India for the first time by Metropolis, the world association of cities and metropolitan regions with more than a million populations.
He said, “This is expected to go up to 75 percent in 10 to 15 years.”
Naidu said that Modi government envisaged development of 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernizing existing mid-size cities.
Central government and states have identified 25 reforms in urban governance to bring transparency and accountability, Naidu said.
Bureau Report
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