Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said recently that the cities of India suffered due to earlier policies which recognised India as a rural civilization, despite cities having been the backbone for the Indian economy for centuries.

The Minister, while speaking at MoneyLife Foundation’s 9th Anniversary Celebration in Mumbai, said “We were not smart enough to realise the potential of what urbanisation could bring about, and one of the most significant new developments that took place recently is the embracing of urbanisation.”

Noting that the Government is investing and spending more in cities than has ever been done before in this country, he said the NDA Government has embarked on the most comprehensive and ambitious planned urbanisation programme undertaken anywhere in the world.

“Today cities contribute nearly 65 percent of country’s GDP and 90 percent tax revenue.  India ranks amongst the best economies of the world in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and corruption has been drastically reduced with people’s trust in government improving tremendously after the NDA Government took charge under the leadership of Narendra Modi,” he said.

Releasing a study report on ‘Reverse Mortgage in India’ at the function, Puri also reviewed major flagship schemes under the Urban Development including Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Swaccha Bharat, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY).