India’s cities drive economic growth but are short on resources. How can the gap be bridged?

Indian cities, despite their significant contribution to the national gross domestic product at nearly 70%, remain poor without adequate resources to meet their mandates. Recently, Indian cities have been affected the most by the Covid-19 pandemic. A prolonged lockdown has also affected municipal own revenues significantly. For cities to remain at the forefront of the battle against Covid-19, it is critical to ensure that they have access to adequate and predictable financial resources.

This column in Scroll.in talks about municipal finances, impact of the GST on the revenues of municipal corporations and inter-governmental transfers.