The Hindu 27.03.2017
NDMC bags top credit rating
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area is among the country’s
top three as per a credit rating exercise undertaken by the Union Urban
Development Ministry.
Along with Navi Mumbai and Pune, the NDMC area leads 94 cities in the country with a credit rating of AA+.
The credit ratings are necessary for issuing municipal bonds for mobilisation of resources.
Smart City Mission
Urban
Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu reviewed the progress of credit
rating of smart cities and AMRUT cities on Saturday, with 94 of the 500
cities included in the Smart City Mission and Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation AMRUT) obtaining the ratings.
A total of 55 of these cities have got ‘Investment Grade’ ratings, a Ministry spokesperson said.
Mr.
Naidu noted that 59% of cities assessed getting investment grade rating
were better than what was thought of about the financial situation of
urban local bodies in the country.
The 94 cities that have so far been assigned credit ratings are spread across 14 States.
The
Ministry of Urban Development is promoting credit rating of cities as
one of the five transformational reforms under which about 500 cities
and towns that account for about 65% of the total urban population were
to be given credit ratings during this year.
Credit
ratings are assigned based on assets and liabilities of urban local
bodies, revenue streams, resources available for capital investments,
double entry accounting practice and other governance practices, said
the spokesperson.