THE government may allow multilateral funding agencies such as World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to directly extend debt to urban local bodies (ULB). At present, the grants are routed through the central government, which passes it to the states. The move is expected to provide an alternative portfolio of fund-raising to ULBs marred by finance constraints. It will also fast-track the process of fund-raising for developmental activities. The urban development ministry is considering the proposal to allow the multilateral agencies extend financial support to ULBs.

The state of Bangalore's civic body, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), provides an object lesson on how not to run a city when the country is going through an unprecedented wave of urbanisa

In the last three years, the city engineer's office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) sanctioned a mind-boggling 15.69 crore sq ft for development in the city.

Keeping up its reputation of beating deadlines, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has completed construction work on its brand new railway bridge across the Yamuna in a record time of 26 months.

A long time ago, visionaries such as M Vishveshwaraya, K Sheshadri Iyer, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, and Mirza Ismail emphasised the importance of trees, parks and green recreational spaces beyond thei

Housing for the poor and urban development is one of key areas of focus in Budget 2008-09 with urban development accounting for about 13% of the total Budget outlay.