To bridge the chasm

In recent weeks, dramatic images of waterlogged roads in Gurugram, Varanasi and Mumbai have captured national attention. From Delhi’s arterial roads turning into rivers to cities like Bengaluru grinding to a halt after a night of heavy rain, it is evident that India’s cities are not built to withstand the climate volatility they increasingly face. Erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged dry spells, rising temperatures and urban flooding are no longer rare, but becoming a predictable part of the monsoon calendar. And while government interventions – such as better drainage systems or disaster response units – are necessary, they are not sufficient. It is time to recognise that building resilient cities will require structured participation from an often-overlooked player: the private sector.

Resilient cities, by definition, are those that can anticipate, absorb, and recover from climate-related shocks. But the path to resilience is obstructed by two critical challenges: first, the absence of localised climate risk data and its integration into city-level planning; and second, the limited application of modern technological tools to upgrade and future-proof urban systems. On both fronts, the private sector has a catalytic role to play – not as an auxiliary player, but as a co-architect of India’s urban resilience journey. How about mandating by law that the top corporates shall allocate a certain amount from the 2 per cent CSR funds. This will ensure that the private sector behemoths or even mid-sized companies are sensitised towards this pressing issue of building resilient cities so as to foment overall growth.

The cornerstone of climate resilience is understanding risk – where it is concentrated, how it is evolving and who is the most vulnerable. Most Indian cities, however, do not have access to localised climate risk assessments, let alone mechanisms, to act on them. According to a study by the Centre for Policy Research conducted in 2023, fewer than 10 per cent of Indian cities have even a basic climate vulnerability map. Where data does exist – such as from the IMD or state disaster management authorities – it is often coarse, scattered or not translated into actionable urban planning decisions.

This creates a dangerous blind spot. For example, we know that heatwaves in cities like Ahmedabad and Nagpur have grown longer and more intense in the last decade, but granular data on which neighbourhoods lack tree cover or have high surface temperatures is often missing from urban planning decisions. Similarly, cities like Varanasi or Patna regularly experience riverine and surface flooding, but their master plans fail to incorporate future rainfall projections or drainage risk models.

The private sector can help bridge this chasm. Geo-spatial firms, data science companies and private climate-risk consultancies already possess the tools to map vulnerabilities at street-level detail. In fact, several Indian start-ups – like Blue Sky Analytics and SatSure – are using satellite data, machine learning and AI models to track urban heat islands, flood plains, water stress and land-use change in real time. These data sets, if made accessible to urban planners and municipal bodies, could enable adaptive design strategies – from zoning regulations to infrastructure retrofitting – that are tailored to local risk profiles.

Moreover, financial institutions, insurers and real estate players have a commercial incentive to quantify and disclose climate risks. For example, if property developers were required to conduct a ‘climate feasibility audit’ before securing approvals, areas prone to future inundation or heat stress could be pre-emptively protected. It is only fair practice to the buyers at large if they are made aware whether the developers passed this Audit satisfactorily or were made to comply with certain other parameters. A report by McKinsey Global Institute (2020) shows that cities that embed climate-risk analytics into planning decisions save up to 20 per cent in infrastructure losses during extreme weather events.

The challenge lies not only in generating data but in translating it into design. Here too, private sector expertise – from architects and engineers to materials scientists and construction firms – can integrate climate data into resilient urban form. For instance, flood-resilient architecture, heat-reflective roofing materials and passive cooling designs are increasingly deployed in cities like Singapore or Tokyo. India’s real estate sector must evolve from floor-space maximisation to climate-aware construction. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) could mandate such innovations in government contracts and affordable housing schemes, creating a new baseline for climate-resilient urban design.

The second major bottleneck is the absence of technological solutions to help cities monitor, respond to and recover from climate shocks in real time. The private sector is uniquely positioned to fill this gap, by offering scalable, modular and cost-effective technologies that governments alone cannot deploy at speed.

Take urban flooding. One of the leading causes is the clogging of stormwater drains due to poor monitoring. The famous Milan Subway, Santacruz, Mumbai, has been flooding every year for the past two decades, drowning many lives besides cars. Till date, no viable solution has been found to avoid flooding. In 2022, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority piloted sensor-based smart drainage systems that can alert authorities before choke points overflow. These systems were developed not by municipal engineers but by a private IoT (Internet of Things) firm. In Hyderabad, a similar sensor-based early warning system for flash floods was implemented in partnership with a private weather tech company.

It is not rocket-science to understand that these are disasters and not freak incidents. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is the apex body that stipulates policies and guidelines, whereas the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is the nodal ministry for disaster management.  The Prime Minister leads the NDMA.  The Chief Minister oversees the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) instituted at the state level.  The Disaster Management Act, 2005, stipulates a legal framework for disaster management in India, creating a tiered structure for an effective response and disaster mitigation.  Despite the NDMA curating the National Disaster Management Plan, which outlines the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders in reducing risks, catastrophes abound breaking the spinal cord of many cities. Hence, the private sector participation becomes a sine qua non, if India has to be evenly remotely considered Viksit by 2047.

Likewise, remote sensing and drone-based surveillance can help monitor construction in ecologically sensitive zones, track illegal encroachments on wetlands and assess the post-disaster condition of critical infrastructure. These are capabilities that city governments typically lack but the private sector can offer as a service model. The same goes for predictive analytics in water supply, traffic movement during evacuation or real-time heat index mapping for public health alerts.

A particularly promising model is the Urban Living Lab, where private innovators work alongside city officials, academic institutions and residents to co-create technology-led solutions. The Bengaluru Urban Observatory, for instance, brings together data from multiple sources – citizen complaints, weather feeds, land records – to help the city respond more efficiently to climate-linked disruptions. These labs can become incubators for climate tech tailored to Indian cities but they require public sector openness to collaborate, and private sector readiness to scale beyond pilots.

It is also critical to recognise that many technological interventions for climate resilience – solar micro-grids, nature-based wastewater treatment, climate-resilient construction – can generate jobs and savings in the long run. This is where the government must create enabling conditions: green procurement standards, performance-linked incentives and outcome-based financing mechanisms that reward private firms for building resilience into the urban fabric.

The private sector is often seen as a polluter or profit-seeker in the urban ecosystem. But as the scale and frequency of climate shocks rises, this view is regressive and counter-productive. Indian cities will not become resilient through government action alone. Nor should resilience be left to the market. What is required is a new model of co-governance – where public institutions set the direction and accountability framework and the private sector brings innovation, data, capital and execution capacity.

This is not just aspirational. It is already happening – in fragmented and promising ways. The task ahead is to build structure and scale. To mandate risk disclosure in real estate, incentivise climate-proof technologies, and ensure that every urban infrastructure decision is guided not just by cost or convenience, but by resilience.

Roy is fellow & lead, climate change & energy, Observer Research Foundation and advisory board member, Council for Fair Business Practices. Kothari is a corporate lawyer & president, Council for Fair Business Practices