Budget: Budget 2024: Brownfield is the new green as cities get a smart makeover

Brown is the new green in urban development. The growing urban population and the need to modernize cities to meet growing demands have led to a series of policy initiatives to develop cities as ‘growth hubs’.

The three-pronged strategy includes “creative redevelopment of wastelands” of existing cities, planned suburban development and transit-oriented development (TOD).

Urban development is one of the nine priorities of the government to create adequate opportunities for all, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said. The Centre, along with states, will facilitate development of cities to boost growth. This will be achieved through economic and transit planning and orderly development of peri-urban areas, using town planning schemes.

FM said one of the key approaches will be the redevelopment of brownfields of cities with a “transformative impact”, and for this the government will formulate a framework for enabling policies, market-based mechanisms and regulations. Details of this framework will be worked out shortly.

The plan has been taken up keeping in mind the need to improve the quality of life in cities, sources said. The Centre will provide financial assistance to states to take up such projects.

In fact, most of the projects undertaken in 100 selected cities under the Smart City Mission were for development in brownfield areas. The new announcements indicate that the government continues to focus on planned urban development. In the last two budgets, it had announced urban development initiatives, including setting up of an Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) worth Rs 10,000 crore for tier 2 and 3 cities.

According to the budget announcement, the government will formulate TOD plans for 14 major cities with a population of over 30 lakh and will spell out the implementation and financing strategy. In urban planning, TOD maximises residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. Sources said the Centre will encourage states to take up such projects.

FM took note of cities facing water shortages and said the Centre will promote water supply, sewage treatment and waste management projects and services through bankable projects in 100 major cities in partnership with state governments and multilateral development banks.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has set itself the goal of achieving 100% water connection and sewage treatment by March 2029 at the latest and to reuse approximately 40% of the treated water in the next five years.

Building on the success of the PM SVANidhi programme, the government is planning a programme to support the development of 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food centres in selected cities over the next five years.

While the Centre has announced new initiatives to address the challenges of urbanisation, some of the earlier promised schemes are yet to take off, indicating that more effort is needed to get states on board. For instance, while the 15th Finance Commission recommended a performance-based challenge fund of Rs 8,000 crore to states for incubating eight new cities, the government is yet to finalise the selection process.

According to the budget documents, the government has allocated Rs 82,575 crore for 2024-25, compared to Rs 76,431 crore for the previous fiscal.