India's Top 10 cities in terms of development

BALASUBRAMANYA B Npro badge (CCI STUDENT....) (44666 Points)

19 November 2009  

Sanjeev Sinha, ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Beginning 2005, good times prevailed in the real estate sector in India with the market peaking in 2007. The Indian real estate story, however, experienced a revision in 2008, with the recession slowly making its mark on the market. The revised market dynamic brought with it scope for speculation, a questioning of fundamentals and a bouquet of uncertainties for investment and development decisions.

The experience of the past year has apparently made it clear that there is an inherent need to understand cities as complete entities. The real estate dynamics within a city are determined by the socio-economic and infrastructure development of the city.

In line with past efforts to help stakeholders in the real estate industry understand the markets they operate in, Ernst & Young has updated its city analysis and come out with a list of India’s Top 30 cities. “The city analysis has been designed to evaluate cities holistically considering an array of factors that make up a city. The exercise ranks cities based on quantifiable factors, backed by data as opposed to a qualitative assessment based on perception,” says EY in the report.

Here we take a look at India’s Top 10 cities in terms of growth and development:

 

Delhi

Rank 2009: 1
Rank 2007: 1

Delhi retains the number one position. The city is demonstrating the fastest transformation in the country, steadily moving closer to achieving the status of a global city by 2010 because of the Commonwealth Games. Some of the key developments enveloping the city include Delhi’s Rapid Mass Transit System (Delhi Metro), which is operational in most parts of the city. By 2010, Delhi Metro will be world’s second-largest network.

The Indira Gandhi international airport is being modernized with the introduction of new amenities to increase flight handling capacity. Road–widening projects are underway, with dedicated efforts to make the ring roads— the main arterial roads signal free. Flyovers, underpasses, pedestrian walkways, high capacity buses, hotels and townships are the other elements that seem to dot the emerging cityscape.

Mumbai

Rank 2009: 2

Rank 2007: 2

Mumbai, a close second, scores better on the business environment index. The city, however, looses to Delhi when it comes to the infrastructure index. The pace of infrastructure development in Mumbai has been slower, pushing down the city a notch.

 

Chennai

Rank 2009: 3

Rank 2007: 3

Chennai, which ranks 3rd in the study, is the largest city in Tamil Nadu and is located on the southeastern coast of India. Chennai is also called as the ‘Gateway to South India’. Today, the city has gone through a tremendous change and is developing rapidly.

There are a number of industries here such as automobile, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The city is India's second largest exporter of software, information technology and information-technology-enabled services. The demand for real estate in Chennai is largely driven by the growth of IT and BPO sector.

 

Bangalore

Rank 2009: 4

Rank 2007:4

Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its position as the nation's leading IT exporter. It is today Asia’s fastest-growing cosmopolitan city. It is home to some of the most high tech industries in India. The IT industry views Bangalore as the ‘byte-basket’ of India. Bangalore is also home to some of India’s premier scientific establishments.

 

Hyderabad

Rank 2009: 5

Rank 2007: 5

Hyderabad, the fifth largest metropolis of India, is known for its rich history and culture with monuments, mosques, temples, a rich and varied heritage in arts, crafts and dance.

Hyderabad has developed into a major hub for the IT industry in India. It is the financial and economic capital of Andhra Pradesh. The city is the largest contributor to the state’s GDP, state tax and excise revenues.

 

Kolkata

Rank 2009: 6

Rank 2007: 6

Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India and the northeastern states. It is home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange — India’s second-largest bourse.

Trade & Industry in Kolkata plays a significant role in developing the economical condition of West Bengal. For the last couple of years, Kolkata is showing tremendous performance in the industrial sectors like information technology, real estate, electronics, apparel and plastic products.

 

Pune

Rank 2009: 7
Rank 2007: 7

Referred to as the ‘Oxford of the East’, the city has gained significance due to a large number of institutions imparting quality training across streams. Pune, by virtue of its strategic location near Mumbai and a successful regional setting, is an emerging economic hub for tertiary economic activities such as services, trade and commerce in the western region. The city is the second-biggest commercial centre in Maharashtra.

Post 2000, there was a spurt in economic activity in the city with IT/ITeS, automobile and auto component industries being the primary growth drivers. The city has the distinction of having the first STPI unit in India. Pune is also the largest auto hub of India. The industry accounts for 54% of the total excise revenue collection of the district.

 

Ahmedabad

Rank 2009: 8
Rank 2007: 8

Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of Gujarat. Historically, Ahmedabad has been one of the most important centers of trade and commerce in western India. The city was once well known as the Manchester of India on account of its flourishing textile industry. The city is considered as a major industrial and financial center contributing about 14% to the total investments in all stock exchanges across India and 60% to the total productivity of the state of Gujarat.

The city is an industrial base for sectors such as chemicals, textiles, drugs and pharmaceuticals and agro and food processing industries. Four major industrial estates within the city’s municipal limits, namely Naroda, Odhav, Vatwa and Behrampura, house various manufacturing, chemical and petrochemical products, metallurgy, food products, textile, paper, and leather companies.

Prominent business conglomerates such as the Adani Group, Reliance Industries, Nirma group of industries, Arvind Mills, Claris Life Sciences, Cadilla Pharmaceuticals, Shell, Vadilal Industries Ltd, Rasna, Bosch Rexroth (Germany), Stork and Rollepaal (the Netherlands) have set up their operations in these industrial estates.

 

Chandigarh

Rank 2009: 9
Rank 2007: 10

Chandigarh has moved up from 10th to the 9th rank in this year’s EY City Ranking. Known internationally for its architecture and urban planning, it is the first planned city of India.

The government is a major employer in Chandigarh with three governments having their base here.

Chandigarh has a well developed market and banking infrastructure.

Nearly all the major banks in the country have registered their presence in Chandigarh. The economy of Chandigarh depends for its revenue on the agricultural, industrial, animal husbandry, fishing, IT, and tourism sectors.

Image Courtesy: https://www.chandigarh.gov.in

 

Surat

Rank 2009: 10

Rank 2007: 9

Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, is a port city situated on the banks of the Tapti river. The city is largely recognized for its textile and diamond businesses.

It is also known as the diamond capital of the world and the textile capital of India. Surat is also the third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh and Gandhinagar.