Having attributes similar to Shanghai and Bangkok, Kochi must augment them through a well-planned modernisation drive, for which funds could be mobilised through municipal/city bonds, Keshav Varma, Chairman of the High-Level Committee on Urban Planning of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), said here on Monday.
Addressing the media at Bodhi 2022, a national urban development conclave organised jointly by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) and the Association of Municipalities and Development Authorities (AMDA), which concluded here on the day, he said such bonds, if needed, from Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) and others, had the potential to garner resources for regional development.
“For example, the US bond market could be termed as being bigger than the Indian economy. Municipal bond is also an instrument for government reform since they [civic agencies] would get exposed to market forces. The administration would have to maintain financial discipline and transparency in order to maintain its credit rating,” he said.
