Overview
- India’s economic affairs secretary, speaking Wednesday at a CDRI forum, said disasters are now a core development and budget challenge and pressed for resilience to be fixed during project design.
- The CDRI report released at the event flagged gaps in contracts, project steps, data systems, skills and finance, and urged mandatory risk checks, resilience clauses, dedicated experts and an India Infrastructure Resilience Fund.
- With disasters up nearly fivefold in 50 years and infrastructure losses put at about $845 billion a year, officials warned that damaged roads and power lines cut growth and hit household incomes.
- Anuradha Thakur called for building resilience into appraisal rules, procurement and financing, and for disaster‑risk financing to shield public budgets during shocks.
- The coalition behind the report includes 53 member countries and said India’s $4.51 trillion build‑out by 2030 and its $30 trillion economy goal depend on resilient roads, railways and power systems.