Bengaluru beat Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat and Navi Mumbai in that order to be the best city to live in, the Ease of Living Index (EOLI) announced today (4 March). The rankings under Ease of Living Index 2020 were announced by Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri along with the Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020.
A total of 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise that was conducted in 2020. The analysis categorised them into million+ populated cities (those with a population of more than a million) and less than pillion populated cites along with all the cities under the Smart Cities Programme.
Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the million+ category followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai.
In the ‘less than million’ category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere and Tiruchirappalli.
The MPI index list ranks Indore the highest in the million+ category municipality followed by Surat and Bhopal. In the less than million category, New Delhi Municipal Council topped the list followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.
The MPI examined the sectoral performance of 111 municipalities across five verticals namely services, finance, policy, technology and governance while the EOLI evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development.
It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities across India based on quality of life, economic ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience. The assessment also incorporates the residents’ view on the services provided by city administration through a citizen perception survey.
The MPI was launched as an accompaniment to the Ease of Living Index. It seeks to examine local government practice in municipalities across areas of services, finance, policy, technology and governance. It seeks to simplify and evaluate the complexities in local governance practice and promote the ethos of transparency and accountability.