The government’s plans to revamp the central vista and then build India’s new Parliament building are just part of a series of mega urban projects scheduled through the year. Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri states that the large-scale acceptance of the projects by the public, despite some voices of criticism, shows that Indians are embracing urban redevelopment. Pointing out that 40% of the population will live in urban spaces by 2030, the minister said the government had made large strides in building up urban infrastructure. Quoting a McKinsey study, the minister said India must build 700-900 million square metres of urban space every year to accommodate this population which the government was equipped to do. Speaking about urban transport, the minister said that today the coverage of metro rail in India had reached 840 kilometres making the country the fifth in the world, but this would rapidly change in the coming weeks as the country would soon overtake Japan and South Korea to become third. India’s “urban awakening” has ensured that the country was slowly charting the pathway for sustainable growth, he said.
