New Delhi, 18 March 2024: ‘By 2030, India is expected to be home to 6 megacities with populations above 10 million. Currently, 17% of India’s urban population lives in slums.

In the face of the global imperative to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 °C (above pre-industrial level), as outlined in the Paris Agreement, nations have been striving to transition towards a net-zero economy. This challenge is particularly pronounced for India, where the dual goals of fulfilling developmental aspirations and curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose a complex challenge.

Bengaluru has been ranked as the most congested city in India, as per the TomTom Traffic Index 2023. Severe congestion has led to a loss in productive hours and a frequent disruption of emergency services, in addition to economic impacts. Further, rapid urbanisation in the city leading to urban sprawl has strained the transportation infrastructure and resulted in increased accidents, traffic congestion, and air pollution.

In the interim Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the construction of two crore additional houses over the next five years under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) and the introduction of a new housing scheme for the middle class.

The 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai underscored the need for scaling up and strengthening adaptation and resilience activities to protect the vulnerable sections of society, such as farmers, from the adverse impacts of climate change. Escalating rural migration and diminishing local production in rural areas due to climate impacts markedly influence the Indian economy, which is essentially agrarian and predominantly rainfed.