01/07/2010
Richard Dobbs, Shirish Sankhe
McKinsey Quarterly
Urban expansion in India will happen at a speed quite unlike anything the country or the world has seen before. It took nearly 40 years (from 1971 to 2008) for India’s urban population to rise by nearly 230 million; it will take only half that time to add the next 250 million. This expansion will affect almost every state. For the first time in India’s history, five of its largest states will have more of their population living in cities than in villages. This interactive graphic offers a map of urbanization by state and notes which cities are poised to surpass the 4-million mark in population.
India’s urbanization: A closer look