India has zero plans for building new towns; the only plans available are for urban redevelopment that yield juicy contracts. Redevelopment can accommodate only a tiny fraction of the prospective rise in the urban population. We simply need new towns. Building new towns is a great booster for overall growth.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned the word ‘green’ about two dozen times in her 2023 Budget speech. Several sectors and activities were prefixed with this word, including energy, farming, mobility, buildings, fuel, jobs, hydrogen, and credit. This has to be a first for the country. Other words that were uttered included climate, zero-carbon, organic, wetlands, biological diversity, and environment. Given that nearly all these words were absent in the 2022 Budget speech, this would seem like a definite advance.
The Union budget of India (2023-24) marked by ‘Growth, Green, Digital’ has been seriously debated over last 10 days after its presentation in the Parliament of India on 1-2-2023. The mainstream media has applauded ‘fiscal prudence’, massive investment infrastructure, cutting of fiscal subsidies, policy of disinvestment from public sector enterprises and tax cuts for ‘hard working’ middle class
The Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted a book inauguration ceremony and an interactive lecture series on the topic titled “India's G20 Presidency & the Urban Agenda for Developing Countries” on February 13, 2023, at IIC Annex, New Delhi. The first session began with the formal launch of the book Cities in Transition, authored by Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, the former Deputy Mayor of Shimla and a Senior Fellow at IMPRI, in the presence of Mr Sitaram Yechury, former Rajya Sabha member and General Secretary, CPI (M) and Sandeep Chachra, Executive Director, ActionAid Association, India.
The IMPRI Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted an interactive panel discussion on the topic “The Defence, Foreign Policy and Union Budget 2023-24” on 7 February 2023, under the IMPRI 3rd Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of Union Budget 2023-24, as part of the State of International Affairs – #DiplomacyDialogue. The discussion was opened by the chair, Dr Simi Mehta who is currently serving as the CEO and Editorial Director of IMPRI. She began with a brief introduction of how Defence and Foreign Policy play a crucial role in the Indian Budget and how it impacts the geopolitics of India.
The IMPRI Center for the Study of Finance and Economics (CSFE), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted an interactive panel discussion on the topic ‘New India’s Economic Transformation and Union Budget 2023-24’ on 6 February 2023, under the IMPRI 3rd Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of Union Budget 2023-24, as part of IMPRI #WebPolicyTalk.