Over 330 million people live in India's cities; 35 cities have a population of over a million and three (Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata) of the 10 largest metropolises in the world are in India. India's cities are large, economically important, and growing. However, neither urban infrastructure nor...

The paper analyses the assignment systems and implementation aspects of environmental regulation in regard to water, air, and forests. The assignment of environmental functions and its overlapping is analysed in terms of not only the different levels of government, but also between the executive...

A tribute to Amaresh Bagchi, a discussion of his academic career, his many interests in public finance and federalism, and an outline of his important contributions in policy formulation by a friend and colleague of many years.

Founder Director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Raja Jesudoss Chelliah, a renowned economist, the doyen among Indian public finance scholars, the architect of tax reforms in the country has passed away on April 7, 2009. He'll be remembered for conceptualising and...

The paper aims to assess the fiscal health of five urban agglomerations (UAs) in India viz. Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, and Pune. Our sample consists of five corporations and sixty three smaller Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) dispersed in thirteen districts of five major states. The main...

This working paper presents an analysis of the strategy required to generate the required resources for investment in various services necessary to achieve the MDGs. The analysis attempts to quantify the fiscal space to finance the MDGs and identify the necessary fiscal reforms required to...