However, new initiatives announced Tuesday are mostly limited to select settlements only. Some won, some lost.

Both Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu secured substantial allocations for their respective states, thanks to the political compulsions of the new NDA coalition.

Naidu garnered a pledge of ₹15,000 crore this fiscal year for Amaravati -- Andhra's new capital city, while Bihar’s road infrastructure, which has been under recent scrutiny, received ₹26,000 crore for a makeover.

Not surprisingly, the budget came in for criticism from chief ministers of other states, especially those ruled by opposition parties, for being discriminatory and lacking in comprehensiveness.

It's worth noting that these funds don't come directly from the central government’s coffers. As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained, “the ₹15,000 crore promised to Andhra Pradesh is being sourced from the World Bank,” and she further mentioned, “we are facilitating special financial support through multilateral development agencies.”

Urban Planning And Brownfield Development

One of the primary urban strategies is the redevelopment of existing cities, known as brownfield redevelopment. Described by Sitharaman as having a "transformative impact," this initiative will be guided by a new framework that includes enabling policies, market-based mechanisms, and regulations. Details of this framework will be announced soon.

This is expected to open up avenues for real estate development in not just large cities but also Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns wherein the structures and infrastructure have become obsolete and saturated. We can expect the revision of old cities and the decongesting of large parts of urban India. 

The issue of street vendor evictions and space allocation in cities have been long-standing issues even after the Street Vendor Act of 2013. Finally, a new scheme will spearhead the creation of 100 weekly 'haats' or street food hubs annually for the next five years in select cities. This initiative builds on the successful PM SVANidhi Scheme, which has significantly improved the lives of street vendors.

Housing Gets A Bigger Allocation, Shift In Approach Towards Rental

As expected, the Union Budget 2024-25 announced 3 crore new houses under the PM Awas Yojana, targeting both rural and urban areas. A significant part of this initiative is the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, designed to meet the housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families. 

With a hefty investment of ₹10 lakh crore and ₹2.2 lakh crore in central assistance over the next five years, this scheme promises a significant boost to the housing sector. Additionally, it will provide interest subsidies, making loans more affordable for many families, especially the middle class.

The budget also spotlights rental housing for industrial workers with dormitory-style accommodations through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), supported by Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and commitments from anchor industries.

To ensure efficient and transparent rental housing markets, policies and regulations will be established. While the 15 per cent VGF has faced criticism from industry players, the government aims to increase this number to attract more players into the rental housing sector. This is a welcome move addressing India’s housing shortage.

In a move similar to the PM Awas scheme, which mandates that the registered beneficiary be the woman of the household, the government is now lowering stamp duties on properties purchased in a woman’s name. This step promotes both gender and economic equality in a traditionally gendered society.

Transit Oriented Development

In recent years, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has gained traction, particularly in Maharashtra and Haryana, focusing on integrating housing and infrastructure around transport corridors like metros and highways.

Budget 2024-25 brings this concept into the spotlight at the central level, unveiling an ambitious plan to develop TOD strategies for 14 major cities with populations over 30 lakh. 

This initiative promises to reduce emissions and create more commute-friendly urban environments. However, the vision might have been even more impactful if extended to smaller cities, where upcoming urbanization and economic growth are anticipated due to the saturation of larger urban centers.

Water Management

India grapples with a unique and ironic challenge: our cities flood every year while simultaneously facing water shortages. How did we end up here? Policy approaches have often operated in isolation, though there’s been a modest effort to address this in the latest budget.

The government has announced plans to improve water supply and sewage systems in 100 large cities, but smaller cities, where attention is also needed, are left out. Whether this will be sufficient remains to be seen.

All this bodes well for India’s urban future. However, the government has missed some crucial areas. Recent years have seen significant displacements and evictions due to redevelopment, yet there are no strategies or allocations to address these issues.

Cities continue to face infrastructural collapse, and this budget fell short on repairs and rectifications, lacking a clear approach to these problems. Additionally, no relief or prevention fund was announced to tackle the persistent flooding in cities, leaving urban residents to bear the costs year after year.