National Repository of Municipal finance information with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

A national database of city finances that is credible and timely, covering financial & operational performance information to create an ecosystem of greater transparency in performance of municipalities and facilitate private participation in urban infrastructure through PPPs and Municipal Bonds.

MEMBER ENGAGED

DESIRED OUTCOMES

Catalyse private sector participation in urban infrastructure, to improve penetration in both PPPs and Municipal Bonds.

Serve as the base data for City Dashboards and Annual Rankings, and aid the creation of a performance-based incentive structure for cities.

Be of value to policymaking bodies who have often cited the challenges to policy making due to the lack of credible data at the municipal level.



COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES

To support collection of data from municipalities, translate and digitise over 5000 financial statements of urban local modles, maintain the online portal, disseminate insights based on analyses of financial and operational data hosted on the portal.

We also propose to convene journalists workshops in state capitals to advise and advocate  for use of the data for engagement of local citizens on the subject of financial accountability of ULBS.

Engage Now


Policy Impact Areas
Market
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • 08 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • 09 - Industry Innovation and Infrastructure
  • 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

BACKGROUND AND DETAILS

India’s creaking urban infrastructure requires large infusion of capital to upgrade and modernize to world class levels. While capital investment requirements in cities is estimated at over 0.6 trillion USD during 2011-2031, municipalities in India have a total annual revenue base of only 17.5 billion USD.

Municipalities in India do not have the resources to partake this need for capital investments and Governments are unlikely to have the fiscal bandwidth to fund this large requirement entirely.  Cities will therefore need to raise significantly higher revenues through tapping into private capital.

The poor credit rating of municipalities, the tepid municipal bond market and the inability of municipalities to raise revenues on the strength of their own balance sheets allude to poor financial governance and transparency. In additional to other financial reforms, availability of timely and credible financial statements in a standardized format can instil confidence in the local bodies to raise capital and elevate their credibility to attract investors.



PARTNERS ENGAGED

  • Omidyar Network: Funder
  • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India (to be formalised): Partner
  • National Institute for Urban Affairs (to be formalised): Implementation partner


IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

June 2020
  • Financial information from audited financial statements of 800 urban local bodies made available on the portal
December 2019
  • Partnerships with 4 state governments / Municipal governments to undertake municipal finance reforms
December 2019
  • Publishing of ranking of 600 ULBs based on the financial and operational  information available on the portal




Initiative Lead
Anil Nair Head - Reforms Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship & Democracy

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (www.janaagraha.org) was founded by Swati Ramanathan and Ramesh Ramanathan in December 2001. It is registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. Janaagraha’s mission is to transform quality of life in India’s cities and towns. We work with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city…

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