Urbanization, taken as an inevitable outcome of the faster rate of growth to which the Indian economy is gradually transiting has molded India into a crowded hub. As per estimates in the next 20 years India’s urban population will be close to 600 million and its cities will generate 70 percent of new jobs and contribute an equal percentage to the GDP. Presently, we have 441 class I cities which are expected to be around 500 by 2022. In fact, it will be for the first time in the history that 5 Indian states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Punjab) will have a higher proportion of the urban population vis-à-vis rural.

All our cities have grown organically, hence, necessitating a collaborative approach with active participation from the citizens in planning and execution of the developmental initiatives. Many schemes have since been launched by the Government , but these have either not percolated to the ground level or have failed to take off due to inefficiencies in the delivery systems. Approximately 25 percent of the urban poor are deprived of basic amenities like housing, water, sanitation etc; hence, defeating the very concept of inclusive urbanization.

To elaborate on the colossal need for Urbanization, Confederation of Indian Industry, Bihar State Council through its India@75 initiative along with Anmol Poultry Feeds Ltd organized a day long Conclave on Urbanization on 23 November 2011 at Hotel The Park, Muzaffarpur.

Well attended by speakers like Mr. Ravichandar, Chairman, Feedback Consulting, Mr. Sreenath P Venkatesan, Vice President, Smarter Planet Solutions, IBM India and Mr. Arun Chaube,  from India@75, Mr. Amit Saraogi, Vice Chairman, CII Bihar State Council and Managing Director,Anmol Poultry Feeds Ltd, also the sponsor of the programme the conclave delved on a wide range of issues.

‘Urbanization’ is different from Infrastructure’ informed the speakers while contrasting the primary meaning of the  term from an inclusive and sustainable dimension, through which CII endeavors to carry further, the planned development of what is being called the ‘rural-urban’ India.

 Urbanization focuses on outputs through empowerment of the communities pitched the speakers while elaborating on a structured approach starting from the planning process for a holistic development of any urban city.

Participants, which included members from various organizations and senior faculties from different educational institutes, were also acquainted as to how a better city not only creates better living but also attracts more investments thereby improving quality of life in such cities. 

Members from industry, NGOs/CSOs, academia, students and local population were called on by CII, Bihar State Council to join hands in evolving an innovative and collaborative mechanism for synergizing different processes so as to take a considered call on the way ahead for enabling a sustainable and inclusive urbanization and CII, Bihar State Council believes that Muzaffarpur can become a role model in this regard on pretext of it being the largest city of northern Bihar and one of the largest growing market. 

The feasibility for implementation of some pilots like Industry led autonomous platform, Roshni – a President of India’s concept for creation of eco friendly sustainable habitats by empowering the communities, Traffic Management Solutions by leveraging technology and IBM’s concept of smarter cities were also discussed at the Conclave.