Looking at the part special economic zones (SEZs) could play, Mahindra said they could form what he called an “accidental” way of spreading urbanization to rural India.
Ben J. Verwaayen, Chief Executive Officer, BT, United Kingdom, also a Co-Chair of the India Economic Summit, asked why, with increased technology, people need to be physically in cities. He advocated spreading technology to provide opportunities and emphasized that education and information are the main priorities.
Agreeing with Mohamed A. Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties, United Arab Emirates, who offered the solution of creating “interesting and challenging places outside cities”, Aiyar emphasized that the key solution is to “buckle the rural hinterland to its immediate urban environment and create opportunities off the farm”.
Advocating urban centres close to centres of production and investment in non-agricultural rural activities (such as biodiesel, handicrafts and food processing), he observed that 100,000 a month migrate to Delhi alone from the countryside.
“As long as all opportunities are concentrated in metropolises, you will not be able to stem this tide. It will be like King Canute.”
After a comment from Alabbar that people cannot be prevented from migrating to cities, Gowing asked what plans there are for urban India. Aiyar warned him not to confuse “metropolitization with urbanization”.
He suggested instead, the growth of existing rural centres, turning villages into towns and towns into cities. He also encouraged businesspeople to open production centres and offices in non-urban areas, promoting a more equitable spread of opportunities.
Observing that India's cities are “close to breaking point”, Mahindra commented that India tends to react only to crises. Giving the example of Surat, a city that is now one of India's cleanest thanks only to the plague that ravaged it in the mid-1990s, he asked how a crisis could be created artificially that would clean up India's cities. He advocated neighbourhood citizenship committees – a solution that is beginning in Mumbai.
Ultimately, Mahindra observed, there are no finite answers. “But India will be a great laboratory to find the answer.”
Concluding, Gowing said there appear to be four key issues:
• Existing structures are insufficient
• Rural India needs to be urbanized
• The question of why people need to be in cities needs to be answered
• India could urbanize “accidentally” through its SEZs.
Confederation of Indian Industry
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