'Delhi, Mumbai will be among world's 5 largest cities by 2030'

Delhi and Mumbai would be among five largest cities in the world by 2030, Union Urban Development minister Kamal Nath said.

"India has 53 cities with over a million population. Its is estimated that by 2030, India will have more 70 cities with a population of more than a million, 13 cities with a population of four million and six mega cities with a population of more than 10 million. And at least two of them -Delhi and Mumbai will be among the five largest cities in the world," Nath said.

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Speaking at the sixth edition of the Urban Mobility India Conference, Nath spoke about the need to have the right policies which allow development of cities in a way that they are sustainable and receptive to innovation.

The minister emphasised on transit oriented development of cities as an integral part of urban planning. He said that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has been asked to finalise a policy on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and it has already identified five such corridors.

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He further spoke on the requirement of mixed use development of urban transport centres which allows development of residential, commercial and other civic facilities within vicinity of main public transport centres.

Nath also said that metro projects are very high priority for the government and are being implemented in cities like Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Jaipur.

Urban Development secretary Sudhir Krishna said that a Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) is being implemented for long term development of sustainable urban transport systems in collaboration with states, cities and local bodies.

He said the metro systems should not be looked upon as a drain on resources.

Metros can contribute to generation of funds and Jaipur Metro has projected a financial internal rate of return (FIRR) of 8.25 percent, while the Pune Metro has projected FIRR of 11.25 percent, he added.