MEDIA RELEASE PR36575
Competitiveness of Indian Cities: Study of 37 Indian Cities on Competitiveness Framework
of Institute for Competitiveness
JYVASKYLA, Oct. 14/ PRNewswire-AsiaNet/-
India today released the India City Competitiveness Report 2009 which
endeavours to evaluate the 37 cities in India. The report preview
Conference at Jyvaskyla, Finland.
This is the first time that an endeavour encompassing similar insight or
expanse has been undertaken for Indian cites. The India City Competitiveness
Report 2009 is a project rooted in academic research, striving to reveal the
determinants of competitiveness. The growth of the nation becomes a summated
function of competitiveness at various levels wherein the cities form an
important harbinger for prosperity, spreading first to the surrounding
regions, then to the state and finally to the country level, thus creating a
global impact. The focus of the report is to throw light on the determinants
of competitiveness of the cities; and thus lay guidelines for policy making
bodies, make them discern their flaws, while showcasing potential.
Mumbai ranks the highest among the cities while Patna, Jamshedpur and
Vishakhapatnam despite their traditionally crucial industries are lagging
behind. Their sophisticated business environment, better infrastructure and
abundant educational and skill support make Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore
and Chennai the leading cities in their potential for regional development
and growth.
Resource use is exemplified in terms of efficiency and the best use
possible with the people enjoying a good living standard and income. But
India as an economy is plagued with dualism with a very prominent divide
between the top cities and the more traditional growth centres like
Vishakhapatnam and Jamshedpur. All the cities leave a lot to be asked in
terms of infrastructure and bureaucratic barriers but nevertheless, from the
fast emerging trends some of the top cities in the ranking show a promise for
a better, more progressive future. A more positive trend is the emergence of
the newer cities in the face of congestions and limits in the traditional
centres. Ahemdabad, Pune and Surat have shown a very consistent even if
relatively lower performance on each of the four scales of competitiveness.
They favour trends of stable growth rates in their human resource and
infrastructural potential.
What Indian cities severely lack is clear vision for what they wish to
achieve in the next 20 to 30 years. There is a compelling urgency all cities
should sense and act upon, towards projecting themselves as Branded
Destinations for Foreign Direct Investment. Intense soul-searching and
mapping of competitive positioning alone shall enable every city to carve out
its unique appeal as an investment destination, rather than a faceless
generic monolithic we-are-open-to-all-kinds of investments pitch.
The authors are Dr. Amit Kapoor (Honorary Chairman, Institute for
Competitiveness & Professor of Strategy at MDI, Gurgaon)
Christian Ketels from Harvard Business School, Susan Zielinski from
University of Michigan, Gordon Feller from Urban Age Institute et al are
contributors to the report amongst others. In coming forth with this Report,
Institute for Competitiveness, India fulfils its aim of studying competition
and its implications for company strategy; and thus generate guidelines for
businesses and those in governance. The report would be available for
purchase beginning November 1, 2009.
Media Contact:
Dr. Amit Kapoor
e: amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in
m: +91-98104-02639
Source: Institute for Competitiveness
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