JOIN US“To encourage banks to lend in significant volumes to the economically weaker sections and low income groups, we are considering the establishment of a Credit Risk Guarantee Fund with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore in the current year,” Singh said addressing the national conference on JNNURM.
Admitting that the experience of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) had been a “mixed”one since its launch in December 2005, the prime minister said the most important achievement of the scheme was the creation of awareness among policy makers about proper planning of cities.
The government had appointed two committees- headed by Arun Maira and Isher Ahluwalia. It is likely to implement some of the recommendations made by them to improve JNNURM.
The PM cautioned against having an all encompassing policy. “Our policies cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach towards both big and small cities,” Singh said.
The prime minister said rapid growth would bring a faster rate of urbanisation. As a result, urban population is projected to increase from current 377 million to 600 million by 2031.
“Today urban India generates two-thirds of India’s GDP. Leveraging India’s urban transition presents a significant opportunity for development and growth.... We must focus on increasing livelihood opportunities in industry and services sectors and improving productivity in the agricultural sector,”Singh said. He rued that master plans in the past did not consider spatial requirements for living and working of the poor .
Singh suggested that smaller cities would have to be treated differently from big ones and metros with regard to financing and pace of reform.