Use power tariffs for a transformation: The strategy Delhi needs to resolve its waste crisis
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If there is one defining feature of municipal services in large parts of India, it is chronic underfunding and under investment. According to the Reserve Bank of India, municipal expenditure is less than 1% of GDP.
Compare this with Brazil and South Africa where the corresponding number is 6% and 7.3% of GDP, respectively. As the American slang goes, you get what you pay for. The traditional argument that we are a poor nation with limited finances does not align with contemporary facts.
The Delhi municipal region has a population of over 33 million with annual income of $133.8 billion in 2023-24 and a per capita income of almost $5,580. Of course, a large proportion of the population is employed in the domestic household sector, with incomes below the median, but that does not necessarily impact the average household’s capacity to pay. Delhi’s GDP and per capita income are appreciably higher than some neighbouring countries, including Sri Lanka, which has a GDP of $74.59 billion and a per capita income of around $3,330.
Despite severe challenges, Sri Lanka’s solid waste management is superior to that in many large Indian urban centres. The world according to GRAP: The GRAP measures introduced every winter in Delhi represent a knee-jerk reaction. GRAP is a calibrated shutdown of economic activity.
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