Beyond state boundaries: Need for regional economic and urban planning

City growth is surpassing municipal boundaries, and urban agglomerations are extending beyond state borders. Economic growth, too, cannot be confined to state limits. However, each state implements its own economic development plan and competes to attract investments, develop infrastructure, and accelerate growth.

This was evident at the recent Davos conference, where chief ministers of Indian states vied to showcase billion-dollar agreements their states had signed.

Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are planning new airports near Bengaluru. For Karnataka’s capital, this would be a second airport after Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), which was established in 2008. Meanwhile, TN aims to build a new airport in Hosur, 309 km from its capital Chennai, and only 39 km from Bengaluru. KIA, located 40 km north of Bengaluru’s centre, has seen steadily rising passenger traffic, crossing 40 million in 2024. This has created a need for a second airport, ideally in another part of the city, to provide easier access for residents outside the northern regions. TN’s plans for Hosur are driven by the town’s growing industrial potential and its proximity to Bengaluru.

Sarjapura, a fast growing suburb in Karnataka, is nearly 60 km from KIA -- a two- to three-hour journey--while Hosur is just 18 km away. People residing in Bengaluru’s southern parts, such as HSR Layout, BTM Layouts, and Electronic City, may find Hosur more convenient than KIA.

Similarly, Sri City, a newly developed multi-product SEZ in Andhra Pradesh, is much closer to Tamil Nadu, just 75 km from Chennai. Hindupur, a growing textile hub in AP, is closer to Bengaluru than to Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam airports in AP. Chittoor and Tirupati, also in AP, are much closer to Chennai than to AP’s major airports. A striking case is Bidar in Karnataka, which is 675 km from Bengaluru and only 140 km from Hyderabad. Bidar could emerge as a major industrial and business hub if well connected to the capital of Telangana.

India’s planning framework is either national or state-focused, bypassing regions. In 1955, a committee set up by the Centre had also proposed the idea that “administrative units could be made to conform to natural economic regions”. This option was not accepted as language was considered a stronger binding force among people while the contours of economic regions could change over the years.

However, with rapid economic transformation, business footprints now extend beyond state borders. Infrastructure—roads, railways, and the introduction of GST—facilitates easier movement of goods. Vande Bharats and bullet trains will further strengthen interstate economic integration. The growth of cities and urban agglomerations beyond state borders should be seen in this context.

Regional economic planning should focus on designing holistic strategies for economic development that consider production, distribution, and resource utilisation in the region. Since a single state lacks the legal jurisdiction to manage cross-border an economic zone, new cooperation mechanisms are needed. The National Capital Region (NCR), established in 1985, exemplifies this approach by covering the union territory of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh under a coordinated planning framework. Why not create a Southern Capital Region, and Western and Eastern Capital Regions on similar lines with a broader mandate to promote regional economic and urban development in their respective regions?  

Zonal Councils, which remain largely inactive, can play a significant role in furthering the idea. The Southern Zonal Council, for instance, has met only four times during the last eight years. According to a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry creating zonal councils on the advice of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Zonal Councils “are regional fora of cooperative endeavour for states linked with each other economically, politically, and culturally. Being compact high-level bodies specially meant for looking after the interests of respective zones, they are capable of focusing attention on specific issues taking into account regional factors while keeping the national perspective in view”.

States must harness their comparative advantages, particularly in optimising urban land usage.

The immediate concern is the location of Bengaluru’s second international airport. An airport’s location should serve not only the metro’s residents but also those in nearby regions, whether in Karnataka or other states. With a Hosur airport likely to attract much of Bengaluru’s southern population and KIA continuing to serve the north and west, the best location for a new airport would be in the city’s east. This would also benefit Kolar district and Kuppam in AP, now an emerging educational hub. Given the upcoming Chennai-Bengaluru expressway, the Kolar-KGF-Kuppam region could evolve into a business and educational hub.

Instead of identifying a new site, location- and cost-wise, a more prudent  solution would be expanding the existing HAL airport. This is best done by KIA authorities, in consultation with HAL, in view of the restriction to establish a new airport within a distance of 150 km from an existing one and avoid the ’greenfield’ tag. Most importantly, HAL airport offers better accessibility, minimising long commute times—an essential factor in airport planning.

(The writer is a former chief secretary, Government of Karnataka)