Delhi tops 2010 ranking of India's most competitive city

The national capital was the most competitive city to do business in the country in 2010, as per a new report, which based its findings on the metropolitan's infrastructure and business environment.

The national capital was the most competitive city to do business in the country in 2010, as per a new report, which based its findings on the metropolitan's infrastructure and business environment.

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According to the City Competitiveness report released today by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), Delhi is the the most competitive out of the nation's 50 cities.

"Its position is augmented by its surrounding hinterland forming the National Capital Region (NCR) and an improved physical infrastructure and an enabling business environment," the report noted.

Chennai cornered the second position in the list ahead of Mumbai, which dropped to third place from second position last year.

Chennai's ranking improved on the back of good performance under all the sub-indices used to benchmark the cities, particularly its educated workforce and logistics infrastructure, while Mumbai's fall was primarily due to the worsening state of its physical infrastructure.

Bengaluru is at fourth place in the list, followed by Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Jaipur.

The report is based on factors like demand conditions, a context for firm strategy and rivalry; and support and related industries. A city would need to improve in terms of all these factors to increase its competitiveness.

"Based on the findings this year, it is clear that Indian cities are yet to develop a clear vision of their future and identify a definite competitive edge.

"Policy makers, too, are struggling with ways of managing infrastructural and developmental challenges that plague even the most competitive Indian cities. It is more important than ever for Indian cities to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development in order to propel overall growth for the country as a whole," Institute for Competitiveness Honorary Chairman Amit Kapoor said.

Interestingly, Ahmedabad and Pune have emerged as the most competitive tier-two cities in India. While Ahmedabad performs very well in the administrative sub-index --indicating good governance, municipal efficiency and low crime rates -- Pune excels in terms of its physical infrastructure and high quality workforce.

Among the other cities features in the list are Chandigarh (11th), Surat (12th), Gurgaon (13th), Indore (14th), Coimbatore (15th), Kochi (16th), Noida (17th), Goa (18th), Shimla (19th) and Kanpur (20th).