New Delhi, Feb 1  : To prepare for an India @100, in 2047, when nearly half the population is likely to be living in urban areas, a high-level committee of reputed urban planners, urban economists and institutions will be formed to draw up plans for the future, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech. The panel will make recommendations on urban sector policies, capacity building, planning, implementation and governance, she said. “By the time of India @ 100, nearly half our population is likely to be living in urban areas. To prepare for this, orderly urban development is of critical importance.

This will help realize the country’s economic potential, including livelihood opportunities for the demographic dividend,” she added. “For this, on the one hand we need to nurture the megacities and their hinterlands to become current centres of economic growth. On the other hand, we need to facilitate tier 2 and 3 cities to take on the mantle in the future. This would require us to reimagine our cities into centres of sustainable living with opportunities for all, including women and youth. For this to happen, urban planning cannot continue with a business-as-usual approach.

We plan to steer a paradigm change.” She said for urban capacity building, support will be provided to the states. Modernization of building byelaws, Town Planning Schemes (TPS), and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) will be implemented to facilitate reforms for people to live and work closer to mass transit systems. Under the Housing for All programme, she said in 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of the PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban, and Rs 48,000 crore has been allocated for this purpose.

“The Central Government will work with the state governments for reduction of time required for all land and construction related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle class and Economically Weaker Sections in urban areas. “We shall also work with the financial sector regulators to expand access to capital along with reduction in cost of Intermediation,” she added.

Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, hailing the budget announcements on urban planning, said: ”It is a continuation of the growth story, under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban, we have a target of 1 crore Houses, that has already reached 1 crore 13 lakh, now the announcement is that in 2022-23, 80 lakh more houses in Urban and Rural will be done for which Rs. 48,000 cr has been set aside. In another initiative, she said the Central Government’s financial support for mass transit projects and AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme will be leveraged for formulation of action plans and their implementation for facilitating TOD (Transit Oriented Development) and TPS (Town Planning Schemes) by the states. For developing India specific knowledge in urban planning and design, and to deliver certified training in these areas, up to five existing academic institutions in different regions will be designated as centres of excellence.

These centres will be provided endowment funds of Rs 250 crore each. In addition, AICTE will take the lead to improve syllabi, quality and access of urban planning courses in other institutions. On Land Records Management, she said that efficient use of land resources is a strong imperative. States will be encouraged to adopt Unique Land Parcel Identification Number to facilitate IT-based management of records. The facility for transliteration of land records across any of the Schedule VIII languages will also be rolled out.

The adoption or linkage with National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) with the ‘One-Nation One-Registration Software’ will be promoted as an option for uniform process for registration and ‘anywhere registration’ of deeds & documents, she announced.