What Is Behind Huda's Cash Crisis?  

The planners thought they had figured it out. The Faridabad district in Haryana that lies close to national capital Delhi and adjacent to Millennium City Gurgaon was once being planned as the industrial hub of the region. However, industrialists and developers who were interested in grabbing the best deal were left with a bitter taste in their mouths. For reasons known, unknown and debatable, the Faridabad dream failed its planners. Official data showed that the industrial contribution of Faridabad to the state's revenue declined to 22 per cent in 2013 from 29 per cent in 2012. Those who hurriedly made an exit did not much bother about who would be left at the scene of casualty to face it all.

Despite all the song and dance about its world-class infrastructure and a global recognition, the poster boy city of urban growth in Haryana, Gurgaon, fares no better. In July, residents were shaken out of their slumber when moderate rains led to night-long jams on its roads. That was, however, just a one-day thing.

Past two years have been so tough for the commercial and residential market of the city that major developers, who had bet big on the tremendous growth potential of the city, have yet to figure out what to do with their piled up inventory overhang. Apart from the fact that property is highly expensive in the city, they can't pinpoint why Gurgaon real estate market is not abuzz with activity. With its snazzy malls and office spaces, a good Metro connectivity, a Rapid Metro system, Gurgaon scores much better than Uttar Pradesh's twin cities of Noida or Ghaziabad.

These examples should, to a great extent, explain why the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) — or civic authorities in other states, for that matter — are not able to tide over the financial crisis that seems to be overshadowing their performance in the modern times of large-scale urban infrastructure growth. The rise and fall of the Huda have coincided with the rise and fall of Haryana as an industrial state, reaping the benefits of its proximity to the national capital.  The investments made across cities are not providing it the right return on investment. The many ways in which the development body is trying to generate fresh funds are not yielding the desired results. Stalled development projects across Haryana hit the finance so bad that the Huda, once a revenue surplus body, plunged into the red in the past few years. Official estimates show the Huda needs over Rs 23,000 crore for development works in Gurgaon alone but the state authorities have refused to extend any financial assistance. The rise and fall of Huda is not just a case study about an urban body in a poor state; it is rather a case study of a state in a poor state.