The greatest challenge faced by Indian cities is to increase their competitiveness in Asia. Cities are the real growth engines within growing economies. This can be clearly supported by a study conducted by The Economic Intelligence Unit’s Hot Spots 2025 (2013) and AT Kearney’s 2014 Global Cities Index and Emerging Cities Outlook (2014).

   According to these studies, leading Indian cities have done well in terms of growing business activity and enhancing human capital. This is largely a consequence of efforts by Indian authorities toward embracing free trade and installing an effective tertiary education system. A 25 per cent annualised growth in stock of office space in the top seven cities during the past ten years is testimony to rising business activity.

    But, the greatest challenge facing Indian cities is to increase their competitiveness in Asia. The abovementioned reports highlight some focus areas. It is....