Business Analysis for

effective Decision Making

 Exercise
1) What is Smart City?
2) Identify 3 Smart City and write about it. (Which among them is a better smart city)
3) As a City in which parameter Mumbai lacks in?
 India Smart Cities Award Contest 2022
Why in News?
Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced the India Smart Cities Award
Contest (ISAC) 2022 under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), that felicitated 66 winners in various categories.
• Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and Chandigarh emerged as top performers in the ISAC 2022 awards, securing
recognition for their excellence in different areas of urban development.
 India Smart Cities Award Contest 2022
What are the Key Highlights of ISAC 2022?
• National Smart City Award:
• Indore secured the prestigious national smart city award, reflecting its exceptional progress in urban
development strategies, followed by Surat and Agra.
• Indore's commitment to sanitation, water supply, and urban environment earned it recognition as a
leader in these vital areas.
•State Award:
• Madhya Pradesh received the state award for its comprehensive approach to fostering smart city
initiatives within its borders.
• Madhya Pradesh is followed by Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
•Union Territory (UT) Award:
• Chandigarh was honored with the UT award, acknowledging its efforts to transform itself into a model
smart city.
 India Smart Cities Award Contest 2022
What are the Key Highlights of ISAC 2022?
Other Categories:
• Coimbatore took the top spot for built environment,
• Ahmedabad for the culture and Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) category,
• Jabalpur for economy,
• Chandigarh for governance and mobility,
• Indore for sanitation, water and urban environment,
• Vadodara for social aspects,
• Hubbali Dharwad for the innovative idea category and Surat for Covid innovation category .
 India Smart Cities Award Contest 2022
What is ISAC?
• The ISAC recognizes and rewards the cities, projects and innovative ideas that are promoting sustainable
development across the 100 smart cities, as well as stimulating inclusive, equitable, safe, healthy and
collaborative cities, thus enhancing quality of life for all.
• The ISAC has witnessed three editions in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
• The fourth edition of the ISAC was launched in April 2022 during the ‘Smart Cities-Smart Urbanization’
event in Surat, Gujarat.

• The ISAC 2022 award had a two-stage submission process consisting of ‘Qualifying Stage’, which
involved overall assessment of the city’s performance, and the ‘Proposal Stage’ which required the smart
cities to submit their nominations for six award categories.
• Project Awards: 10 different themes,
• Innovation Awards: 2 different themes,
• National/Zonal City Awards,
• State Awards,
• UT Award, and
• Partners Awards, 3 different themes.
 India Smart Cities Award Contest 2022
What is a Smart Cities Mission?
•About:
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, launched in June 2015 to transform 100 cities to provide the
necessary core infrastructure and clean and sustainable environment to enable a decent quality of
life to their citizens through the application of "Smart Solutions".
• The mission aims to meet the aspirations of India’s population living in cities through various urban
development projects.
•Features:
• Among its strategic components is ‘area-based development’, which includes city improvement
(retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (greenfield development), plus a pan-city
initiative in which ‘smart solutions’ are applied covering larger parts of the city.
• Key focus areas of the scheme include construction of walkways, pedestrian crossings, cycling tracks,
efficient waste-management systems, integrated traffic management and assessment.
• The scheme also assesses various indices to track urban development such as the Ease of Living Index,
Municipal Performance Index, City GDP framework, Climate Smart Cities assessment framework, etc.
 India Smart Cities Award Contest 2022
•Achievements:
• Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCC): One of the pivotal achievements of the Smart
Cities Mission is the establishment of ICCC in all 100 smart cities.
• These centers serve as the operational hubs for urban management, utilizing technology to
enhance various aspects of city operations. Notably, ICCCs have contributed to improvements in
crime tracking, citizen safety, transport management, waste management, water supply, and disaster
preparedness.
• Sectoral Progress: The Smart Cities Mission encompasses a wide array of projects across sectors,
including mobility, energy, water, sanitation, public spaces, social infrastructure, and governance.
• Smart Mobility: Completion of 1,174 projects.
• Smart Energy: Successful completion of 573 projects.
• Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): Over 1,162 projects completed.
• Public Spaces: Development of more than 1,063 public spaces.
 Exercise
1) What is Inflation?
2) How can Inflation be controlled ? Give one example.
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
Why in News?
July 2023 witnessed a notable increase in Retail Inflation, reaching 7.44%, creating Goldilocks scenario for
India, making investors and savers uncertain about the economic situation.
• A Goldilocks Scenario describes an ideal state for an economy whereby the economy is not expanding or
contracting by too much. A Goldilocks economy has steady economic growth, preventing a recession, but
not so much growth that inflation rises by too much.
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
What is the Current Economic Scenario of India and Projections?
•GDP Projection:
• The projected GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for 2023-24 is 6.5%, while the benchmark
Sensex index stands currently at 65,000 points.
• However, if inflation remains high, it could affect returns on stock market investments.
• Gold and bank deposit rates, on the other hand, are expected to remain stable in the coming months.
•Inflation Projection:
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) anticipates inflation to stay above 5% until the first quarter of 2024-
25, potentially reaching 6.2% in the current quarter (July-Sept) 2023, exceeding the RBI's comfort level
of 4%.
•Food Price Pressures:
• Food prices are expected to remain elevated for a few more months. July's data reveals a surge in
vegetable prices (37.3%), along with inflation in cereals, pulses (both 13%), spices (21.6%), and milk
(8.3%).
• It is expected that government interventions and fresh crop arrivals will eventually ease this pressure.
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
What is the Current Economic Scenario of India and Projections?
•Interest Rates and Monetary Policy:
• Due to the higher inflation projections, the possibility of a rate cut has been postponed to the next
Fiscal Year (2024-25).
• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to maintain policy rates in the upcoming meeting,
with the first rate cut potentially occurring in the following fiscal year.
•Market Outlook:
• Despite inflation and high interest rates, India's market has performed well.
• Supported by strong earnings prospects and stable macro conditions, India has outperformed other
markets.
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
What is the Impact of Such Rising Inflation on the Indian Economy?
•Impact on Markets:
• When inflation is high, stock prices are undervalued, and the value of gold increases. Rising inflation
reduces purchasing power, leading to lower real earnings.
• Additionally, higher inflation results in higher Interest Rates, affecting the cost of equity.
• The RBI's series of repo rate hikes since April 2022 has contributed to an overall increase in lending
rates, affecting various types of loans.
•Income Redistribution:
• Inflation can impact different groups within society unevenly. Creditors may lose out, as the value of
the money they receive from debtors decreases.
• Conversely, debtors could benefit by repaying loans with money that is worth less than when they
borrowed it.
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
What is the Impact of Such Rising Inflation on the Indian Economy?
•International Competitiveness:
• High inflation in one country can lead to a decrease in its international competitiveness. If domestic
prices rise faster than those in trading partner countries, the country's exports may become less
attractive on the global market.
•Wage-Price Spiral:
• Inflation can sometimes trigger a cycle of rising wages and prices. Workers demand higher wages to
keep up with rising costs, and businesses pass on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher
prices. This cycle can perpetuate inflation.
Inflation And Current Outlook of Indian Economy
Way Forward
• Given the concerns about rising inflation, the government and the RBI need to work together to
manage inflationary pressures. This could involve targeted measures to stabilize food prices, improve
Supply Chain efficiency, and maintain a cautious monetary policy.
• The government should focus on maintaining a balanced budget, reducing unnecessary expenditure,
and boosting revenue generation through reforms and measures that promote economic growth.
• The RBI should continue to adopt a vigilant and data-driven monetary policy approach. This may
involve adjusting interest rates to manage inflation while also considering the impact on economic growth.