India: the challenges of the coming urban population explosion

India is expected to experience an explosion of its urban population in the coming decades, with megacities already overpopulated.

Share:

India, a country of 1.4 billion people, is expected to experience an urban population explosion in the coming decades with already overcrowded megacities lacking essential infrastructure, where living conditions are likely to deteriorate further due to climate change.

The population of Bombay, one of India’s largest cities, has grown by 8 million in the last 30 years, the equivalent of New York City.

The megacity is now home to 20 million people and is expected to grow by seven million by 2035.

Like other Indian megacities, the housing stock, road and transportation networks, water supply and waste management have not been sufficiently developed to meet the real needs.

Thus, about 40% of the population lives in slums. Overcrowded, made up of makeshift shacks, these areas of misery are for the most part deprived of running water, electricity and sanitation, which the richest districts of India enjoy and which, in some places, adjoin them.

Commuters spend several hours in transport to get to work in Mumbai. Clinging to the doors of crowded trains, on board full buses, cars or motorcycles for the more affluent, traffic is a constant ordeal on bad and congested roads.

An anthill

Mohammed Sartaj Khan, originally from a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, arrived in Bombay at the age of 16 or 17 and settled in the largest slum, Dharavi, filmed in “Slumdog Millionaire”, where one million people are crammed together.

“When I came here, people felt like ants (…) like in an ant farm, no one cares about each other,” he remarks.

He remembers a “wonderful childhood spent in the village” where “there is a peaceful atmosphere, the opposite of the chaos here”. And to add: “the population has no money”.

Now 35 years old, he still lives in Dharavi and works in a tannery.

At the beginning, he earned 6,000 rupees (70 euros) per month, but today, as a technician, his salary is four times higher.

He sends most of it to his wife and children who live in the village, regretting that he returns there so rarely, for lack of means.

Untreated wastewater

The world’s population will reach eight billion this month.

The UN predicts that India’s population will rise to 1.7 billion by the 2060s, before falling to 1.5 billion by 2100.

The number of city dwellers will increase by 270 million by 2040, but more than half of Indians will still live in rural areas, according to the International Energy Agency.

Urban development will increase the production of electricity, steel and construction materials, resulting in more carbon emissions.

According to a 2021 Indian government report, about 70% of the billions of liters of wastewater produced each day in cities are not treated.

Bangalore, which has some of the worst traffic congestion in India, suffered severe flooding in September, blamed on the development of buildings in the technology hub without a city plan.

Many cities are experiencing flooding, including Madras which was also hit by drought in the summer of 2019.

This kind of crisis is attributed to insufficient rainfall and urban expansion on wetlands of the ecosystem.

“When growth is not planned, many cities experience flooding,” Professor Sayeed Unisa of the International Institute of Population Sciences in Mumbai tells AFP.

Urgent planning

Millions of urban Indians do not have access to running water and depend on truck or train deliveries.

Everywhere, including Delhi, people are drilling wells, deeper and deeper, as the water table drops.

According to scientists, global warming is likely to make cyclones more intense and frequent, monsoons more irregular and powerful, and cause more droughts.

Bombay and Calcutta are particularly exposed, and also threatened by rising sea levels.

Indian summers are becoming increasingly hot, especially in the heat-trapping concrete urban areas. This year, India had the hottest month of March.

Urban overcrowding increases the risk of large-scale spread of viruses such as Covid.

According to Poonam Muttreja of the Population Foundation of India, India needs to invest in the rural economy to stem the exodus to the cities and encourage people to move to smaller urban centers.

“The poor, especially migrants, in large cities are the most vulnerable” to natural disasters, Muttreja said. “India needs to make a paradigm shift. And instead of complaining, we need to start acting. It is not yet too late to start planning.

Final energy consumption in the European industrial sector dropped by 5% in 2023, reaching a level not seen in three decades, with renewables taking a growing role in certain key segments.
Réseau de transport d’électricité is planning a long-term modernisation of its infrastructure. A national public debate will begin on September 4 to address implementation methods, challenges and conditions.
The Spanish Parliament has rejected a package of reforms aimed at preventing another major power outage, plunging the national energy sector into uncertainty and revealing the fragility of the government's majority.
The U.S. government has supported Argentina’s request for a temporary suspension of an order to hand over its stake in YPF, a 16.1 billion USD judgment aimed at satisfying creditors.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency extends compliance deadlines for coal-fired power plant operators regarding groundwater monitoring and the closure of waste ponds.
Eskom aims to accelerate its energy transition through a new dedicated unit, despite a USD22.03bn debt and tariff uncertainties slowing investment.
Several major U.S. corporations announce investments totaling nearly USD 90 billion to strengthen energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, aimed at powering data centers vital to the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence sector.
Nearly USD92bn will be invested by major American and international groups in new data centres and energy infrastructure, responding to the surge in electricity demand linked to the rise of artificial intelligence.
Nouakchott has endured lengthy power interruptions for several weeks, highlighting the financial and technical limits of the Mauritanian Electricity Company as Mauritania aims to widen access and green its mix by 2030.
Between 2015 and 2024, four multilateral climate funds committed nearly eight bn USD to clean energy, attracting private capital through concessional terms while Africa and Asia absorbed more than half of the volume.
The Global Energy Policies Hub shows that strategic reserves, gas obligations, cybersecurity and critical-mineral policies are expanding rapidly, lifting oil coverage to 98 % of world imports.
According to a report by Ember, the Chinese government’s appliance trade-in campaign could double residential air-conditioner efficiency gains in 2025 and trim up to USD943mn from household electricity spending this year.
Washington is examining sectoral taxes on polysilicon and drones, two supply chains dominated by China, after triggering Section 232 to measure industrial dependency risks.
The 2025-2034 development plan presented by Terna includes strengthening Sicily’s grid, new interconnections, and major projects to support the region’s growing renewable energy capacity.
Terna and NPC Ukrenergo have concluded a three-year partnership in Rome aimed at strengthening the integration of the Ukrainian grid into the pan-European system, with an in-depth exchange of technological and regulatory expertise.
GE Vernova has secured a major contract to modernise the Kühmoos substation in Germany, enhancing grid reliability and integration capacity for power flows between Germany, France and Switzerland.
The National Energy System Operator forecasts electricity demand to rise to 785 TWh by 2050, underlining the need to modernise grids and integrate more clean energy to support the UK’s energy transition.
Terna has signed a guarantee agreement with SACE and the European Investment Bank to finance the Adriatic Link project, totalling approximately €1bn ($1.08bn) and validated as a major transaction under Italian regulations.
India unveils a series of reforms on oil and gas contracts, introducing a fiscal stability clause to enhance the sector’s attractiveness for foreign companies and boost its growth ambitions in upstream energy.
The European Commission is launching a special fund of EUR2.3bn ($2.5bn) to boost Ukraine’s reconstruction and attract private capital to the energy and infrastructure sectors.