New Delhi Emerges to be the Most Competitive City in India yet Again, According to the India City Competitiveness Report 2013 by the Institute for Competitiveness, India

NEW DELHI, December 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights

• New Delhi is stable at its number one position and bags the position of most competitive city of India
  
• Slight shuffles are witnessed in the ranking of the top ten contenders in the index wherein rank of Bengaluru is swapped by Noida
  
• Cities like Kochi, Surat, Nashik, Jaipur and Indore have performed well on the city competitiveness index and are fast running upwards on the index
  
• Some of the south Indian cities have performed well on few sub-pillars of competitiveness, as a result, an upswing is witnessed in their competitiveness rankings

• Please note that city competitiveness index is a methodological computation of a city's numeric data indicators, encompassing different dimensions, which henceforth, reflects the performance of a city. It does not assess a city based on just one parameter

Similar to the previous years, India City Competitiveness Report 2013 in its Sixth edition evaluates the 50 Indian cities. Its quest is to identify the most competitive city of India and track their performance year-on-year. Kota is a new entrant in the list of 50 Indian cities assessed on the India City Competitiveness Index 2013. In addition, some of the reasons for changes in the rankings of cities are; improved methodology, inclusion of few more detailed indicators and updating of existing data indicators.

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The India City Competitiveness Report 2013 is based on the Microeconomic Diamond Model laid down by Michael E Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, based at Harvard Business School. The model is widely accepted across the world, and it assesses the competitiveness of a region or a domain, based on specific benchmarks. The model is based on four pillars of competitiveness that are factor conditions, demand conditions, context for strategy and rivalry and supporting and related industries. These pillars are further divided into 12 sub-pillars wherein factor conditions split into 6 sub-indices, and other three are distributed into 2 sub-indices disjointedly, which in turn are measured through indicators. All these pillars and sub-indices are directly or indirectly related to one another and help to assess the different dimensions of competitiveness. India City Competitiveness Report 2013 assesses the vital details of a city on a set of well-defined indicators.

New Delhi grabbed the title of the most competitive city of India. This is the fourth time in a row that the capital city of the country has demonstrated such a phenomenal performance on almost all the pillars of competitiveness. The obvious reasons that can be stated are good governance, high GDP and better infrastructure. Though, it still lags behind on the administrative sub-pillar which can act as a sign of worry for the city in the near-future.

The city competitiveness index 2013 witnessed the same set of the top ten cities with a little shuffle as Bengaluru swapped its place with Noida. Mumbai, similar to last year is stable at second rank and has performed well on most of the pillars. It is simply unbeatable on the factor condition and demand condition pillars. Chennai is spotted at 3rd place and can be touted as the most innovative city, going by its performance. It is followed by Hyderabad at 4th, Kolkata at 5th and Gurgaon at 6th. On the index, Noida beats Bengaluru to grab the 7th place as it performed relatively better on physical infrastructure and business indicators. Bengaluru thus holds the 8th rank. The latter two cities are stable on their position, Pune at 9th and Ahmedabad at 10th rank.

Some of the south Indian cities like Coimbatore, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Madurai have jumped upwards on the index and can be spotted in the slot of 11-20. All these cities have done well on the physical infrastructure sub-pillar as compared to last year; clearly, showcasing their potential and significant improvement in the various domains of competitiveness.

An in-depth study of the cities states that the cities considered being small such as Rajkot, Faridabad, Meerut, Dehradun and Shimla are no more underdeveloped. Instead, these cities are the budding growth centers of the economy which are moving up on the city competitiveness index at a fast pace. They are adding up to the overall competitiveness of the country with the help of their distinctive and untapped potential. To exemplify, Faridabad and Meerut proximity to the National Capital Region (NCR) and their internal growth has resulted Faridabad to become the next most desired business destination and Meerut as the popular education hub. The analysis also illustrates that few cities are loosing their charm in comparison to above-mentioned cities. To name a few, Indore slipped to 23rd, Mysore to 26th, Ludhiana to 32nd and so on.

In India, there are only few prominent cities which till date have entered into global rankings. In other words, Indian cities still have a long way to go in terms of overall development and to compete with an international city. There should be a sync between the different aspects of the city like governance, infrastructure so that the Indian cities develop in a sustainable manner by complimenting their own inherent strengths. The Indian cities need to map their strengths, improve upon their weak areas, explore new possible domains and then create distinctive advantage for themselves. They need to implement a strategical model around their distinguishing image and then increase their competitiveness levels.

The metro cities of the country are the most attractive investment destinations, but they also need to resolve their infrastructure, as well as, governance related issues. Improving upon these parameters can help them to leverage their strengths and transform themselves into successful cities. Likewise, the other lesser known cities need to innovate, develop further and improve upon the quality of trade as well as living so as to develop uniformly and strengthen their core domains.

The report can act as a supporting guide for corporates, governance bodies and residents of a city to map the Indian cities w.r.t. their performance and investment options. They can obtain a well-researched market overview of the city and then formulate their location strategy. They can also direct policy makers and suggest suitable measures for city productivity through holistic growth.

Author of the report, Dr. Amit Kapoor, said, "Today Indian cities are trying to do a lot of things without assessing their long term impact. A proper ecosystem needs to be built around them that emphasizes on using the resources productively. Cities should have their own value proposition so as to sustain their identity and enhance their competitiveness in the long run."

Ankita Garg, Senior Researcher, Institute for Competitiveness also commented, "Every Indian city is moving on a very different trajectory. Some are growing aggressively with a balanced model of growth while others are still in their nascent stage of development. However, most of them are facing similar set of challenges. It is thus essential that all the major stakeholders promptly come on a common platform and instead of playing a blame game, lend a helping hand in the growth of their city."

The India City Competitiveness 2013 uses hard data that is published by the Government of India. The data is derived from reports, published articles etc. of the various ministries of India, Government funded research organizations and other reliable and true companies so as to assemble the facts and figures. It also eliminates the possibility of sampling error or other related faults.

About Institute For Competitiveness

The Institute for Competitiveness is an international think tank dedicated to conducting and disseminating meaningful research in the core fields of strategy, economic development, productivity and prosperity in order to create value for all. IFC studies competition and its implications for company strategy, the competitiveness of nations, regions and cities, and thus generates guidelines businesses and those in governance. The institute's core activities revolve around disseminating ideas to various bodies, including companies and governments, through events, publications and programs. Find out more at http://www.competitiveness.in

A closer look at the rank of 50 Indian cities http://competitiveness.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/India_City_Competitiveness_2013_rank.pdf

To acquire a copy of India City Competitiveness Report 2013 please visit http://competitiveness.in/publications/reports/india-city-competitiveness-report/

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SOURCE Institute for Competitiveness