Eastern half missing: Sanjeev Sanyal reacts after Amitabh Kant names 15 cities driving India's growth

Amitabh Kant, former CEO of Niti Aayog, believes that 15 key cities will be the driving forces behind India's ambition to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047. These cities are not just urban hubs but engines of growth, innovation, and job creation, he said while naming the cities on X. 

According to Kant, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Coimbatore, Noida/Greater Noida, Kochi, Gurugram, Vishakhapatnam, and Nagpur are crucial to India's economic future.

He highlighted that these cities alone contribute 30% of India's GDP, and their performance could boost the nation's economic growth by 1.5% annually, a significant factor in reaching the ambitious $30 trillion target.

He, however, said: "Good Municipal governance of these cities is critical."

Sanjeev Sanyal, noted economist and author, raised concerns about the absence of cities from the eastern part of the country. "The list tells you another important issue. Only one of those cities is in the eastern half of the country. And the single eastern city—Kolkata—has been underperforming for the last two generations. The eastern half needs strong growth hubs," he said.

In November last year, Sanyal had explained that the real divide in India was not North-South, but rather an East-West divide. He stressed that southern states, particularly Telangana and Karnataka, have shown impressive growth since the 1990s. 

"Southern India’s success is quite recent. It wasn’t a particularly great performer till 1991. The real performance of the southern states occurred after liberalization," he said, acknowledging that Tamil Nadu and Kerala, once high-performing states, saw a decline before the liberalisation period.

Sanyal compared Goa and Gujarat with Bihar and West Bengal, stating, "Goa has per capita income three times the national average and 10 times of Bihar." He pointed out that while states in the South and West have experienced impressive growth since economic liberalisation in the early 1990s, the Eastern states like West Bengal and Bihar have lagged behind. This economic lag is especially evident when comparing income levels. 

In March, the economist had expressed concern for West Bengal's trajectory and the decline of Kolkata, once a thriving cultural and economic hub. He blamed former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and the Communists, who he said destroyed the economy of Kolkata and Bengal.

He had noted that Kolkata should serve as a comparable anchor for the East, not only for West Bengal but for the entire region. He had argued that with Kolkata's existing institutions and significant historical infrastructure, it held unmatched potential to stimulate Eastern India's growth. 

"This web of urban drivers is a key part of high growth. Kolkata should have been that anchor of the East. So, bringing back Kolkata is not just about reviving West Bengal, it is an anchor of the East. If you really want to get eastern India going, you've got to get Kolkata going."