Empower our cities

As the economy grows, city governance must become a central part of our long-term development strategy

- NITIN DESAI

How large is India's urban population? According to the 13-year-old 2011 Census, the percentage of Indian population living in urban areas was 31 per cent based on the Census definition of urban areas. Nearly 4,000 of these settlements were outside the jurisdiction of a municipality, accounting for about 30 per cent of the urban population recorded in the 2011 Census.

Perhaps a part of the difference between the Census and Municipal urban areas may be connected with resource-oriented factories being set up near the natural resource source. Also, factories may be set up on the outskirts of municipalities because of the ease and economy of land acquisition in an adjoining rural area.

This is reflected in the Annual Survey of Industries 2021-22 and the Periodic Labour Force Survey 202223, which show that around 40 per cent of workers in manufacturing are in rural areas.

The Census estimate has been questioned by analysts combining the Census population data with satellite information about settlements, landscape area, intensity of night lights, and so on. A recent estimate concluded that the urban population in 2011 was 43 per cent of the total and not 31 per cent as estimated in the Census. However, this estimate has not included the Census urbanisation criterion of non-agricultural activities, which must account for 75 per cent of male workers in urban areas. This has led to the estimate showing very high percentages of urban population in the Gangetic plain area (UP 55 per cent, Bihar 74 per cent, and West Bengal 69 per cent). This may be because of densely populated, closely clustered villages.