The COVID-19 epidemic and the associated economic lockdown have hit India particularly hard. As of end of August 2020, India had some 2.5 million confirmed cases, despite one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world. This comes in the context of already slowing growth, and rising fiscal and financial stress across the economy.
This report argues that sustainable urbanization should be front and centre of the recovery plan, in order to put the Indian economy back on a more equitable high growth pathway.