Page 81 - Abhivruddhi

Urban Population Growth in India
As per the National Commission on Population, by 2036, 38.6 percent
of India’s population (about 600 million people) will live in urban areas.
The United Nations highlights that India’s urban population will double
between 2018 and 2050 reaching 877 million people.
The reasons for this explosive growth are two-fold. One, there is
migration of population to urban areas which provide better economic
opportunities to population currently dependent on agriculture. But,
over the years, the contribution of agriculture to the country’s economy
has reduced. In FY20, agriculture’s share of the country’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) (national income) was just 14.65 per cent - down from 22.6
per cent in FY05. The sector grew at an average annual rate of 3.6 per cent
while the growth rate of the economy in general was 6.7 per cent during
this period.
Second, the increasing urbanization of rural areas has played a major
role in increasing urban population. In India, approximately 70% of people
live in areas which can be designated as ‘rural’. But, now most of these areas
are exhibiting characteristics that no longer can be termed as ‘rural’ but
appear increasingly as ‘urban’.

Challenges Arising due to this Huge Urban Population Growth
The huge population pressure in urban areas raises challenges of:
1. Health and Sanitation
2. Education
3. Housing
4. Solid Liquid Waste Management
5. Infrastructure like roads, transportation, lighting, water
supply etc.
6. Environment like air quality, noise pollution etc.

Countering these Challenges
It is critical to counter the challenges posed by the urban population
growth in order to make India a five trillion dollar economy in the near
future.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (2016) states that
urbanisation contributes nearly 60% to India’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). As per the NITI Aayog (2021), India is behind other large Asian
economies in per capita GDP and urbanization linkages. These untapped
economies of scale and effective interventions can be a game-changer.

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