Union Development Ministry has asked the State Government to improve the infrastructure facilities in Coimbatore as the city has been rated ahead of Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkota, Noida, Gurgoan and many other cities as a business destination, in a survey by Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM).
The survey, quoted by the Ministry of Urban Development, has said that the city had scored 119.84 out of 160 points and performed well on water index, human capital, availability of helping hands and its ability to attract talent.
ParametersThe parameters the GIREM had chosen are human capital, energy, water, mobility or transport, environment, health and safety, schools and colleges, housing, healthcare, ability to attract talent, climate, office space availability, malls and multiplexes, helping hand availability, infrastructure for helping hand, city culture and getaways.
The MoUD has used the survey findings to ask the State Government to capitalise on the achievements and improve on areas where the cities are found wanting.
In his letter, Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Urban Development, has asked secretaries of state governments to use the various policies and schemes steered by the Ministry such as the urban and regional development, planning formulation and implementation guidelines and guidelines for sustainable urban infrastructure to improve the cities ranking on other parameters.
Other citiesHe has also asked the states’ secretaries to encourage other cities to follow the same and improve their rankings as preferred business destinations.
Sources in the Coimbatore Corporation said that they would work on bettering office space availability, facilitating creation of malls and providing infrastructure for the helping hands — areas where the city had scored below average.
The survey has found energy and mobility services to be poor in the city and suggested that unless there were improvements on those two fronts, the city would find it difficult to sustain its position among the top 10 business destinations in the Country.
Higher rankThe cities that have fared better than Coimbatore are Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Indore and Bhubaneshwar. Bangalore has scored 129.56 and Chennai 127.84.
