Launch of City Data and Analytics Platform (CDAP) at NITI Aayog’s Data Forum 2025
Last month we launched the City Data and Analytics Platform (CDAP) at NITI Aayog’s Data Forum 2025 in Bhopal on 21st November 2025.
With CDAP, India’s urban data — spanning national, state, district, and city levels — comes together geographically and spatially on one powerful, interactive platform.
CDAP was launched by Anurag Jain, Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh. The event began with an opening address by Anna Roy, Principal Economic Advisor and Programme Director, NITI Aayog.
Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO, Janaagraha introduced the platform. Thomas Danielewitz, Senior Economist, The World Bank, and Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Additional Chief Secretary (General Administration Department), Government of Madhya Pradesh were also present during the inauguration. Attendees also included senior state officials, central government representatives, academia, researchers, and international experts.
You can access the platform here: https://www.citydata.org.in/
Dive in, explore, and see how data can unlock new possibilities for your city and beyond.
CDAP is a micro-site of NITI Aayog’s National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) and is conceived, created and operated by Janaagraha with thanks for technical collaboration with Socialbytes, and IBM through the #IBMImpactAccelerator.
Government of Assam Launches City Action Plans Under Doh Shaher Ek Rupayan
The Government of Assam has launched City Action Plans (CAPs) for eight cities under Doh Shaher Ek Rupayan — a programme focused on building transparent, accountable, and citizen-centric urban governance.
As the anchor partner, Janaagraha, in consultation with Assam’s Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, conceptualised and supported the roll out of the CAP process. CAPs identify aspirations and priorities of cities that are defined by their residents, and organise them into actionable interventions that enable convergence, coordinate investments, and improve service delivery. These plans have been developed through ward-level consultations, anchored by municipal councils, and will be overseen by Municipal Planning Committees that are chaired by District Commissioners.
Assam’s CAPs were launched by Mr. Jayanta Mallabaruah, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of Assam, in Guwahati, in the presence of city leaders, government officials, partner institutions, and civil society organisations. These CAPs will guide city-level action for the next 2-3 years — across sectors such as water, sanitation, public infrastructure, mobility, and blue-green assets.
Press release: Link
Shaping UP’s State Urban Transformation Agenda (SUTRA)
On December 2, 2025, we organized the first roundtable on shaping UP’s State Urban Transformation Agenda (SUTRA).
A total of 28 participants from government, academia, civil society, and sector organisations came together to reflect on UP’s urban challenges and the possibilities for its urban future. The conversations were rich, grounded, and filled with energy for shaping the state’s urban future.
SUTRA is a comprehensive framework to catalyse urban development across UP. It envisions planned urbanization and holistic urban governance to improve quality of life, achieve sustainable development, and drive economic growth.
The roundtable reflected on systemic challenges that most constrain urban transformation in Uttar Pradesh and proposed practical reforms and initiatives for UP’s urban transformation.
Roundtable on “Air Pollution in Cities”: Challenges and the Way Forward
As air quality becomes part of everyday conversation, the challenges for cities remain the same: how to move beyond short term fixes toward sustained action.
We hosted a roundtable on ‘Air Pollution in Cities: Challenges and the Way Forward’ in New Delhi to examine what it would take to build coordinated, accountable city systems—and how future air-quality frameworks could be shaped to build city capacity, not just fund them.
The discussion brought together over 35 participants from government, research, academia, philanthropy, alliances, and citizen-focussed organisations.
The dialogue was anchored in Janaagraha’s year-long study on air quality funding and outcomes across million-plus cities, under the National Clean Air Programme and Fifteenth Finance Commission.
Key Perspectives
Amit Bhatt, Managing Director for India, International Council on Clean Transportation: “Air pollution is no longer a seasonal or episodic problem for our cities; it is a daily public health emergency. Sources such as transport not only contribute significantly to urban air pollution but also account for a large share of people’s direct exposure. Addressing this challenge requires science-based solutions, empowered institutions, and decisive action at scale.”
Dr. Suresh Jain, Professor and Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIT Tirupati: “Air pollution does not respect administrative boundaries, and responsibility for addressing it cannot rest with any one actor alone. Structural change is essential, because formal accountability alone has not delivered results. Those working outdoors and in vulnerable conditions bear the greatest burden. Improving air quality must therefore be a transparent, inclusive, and people-centric agenda.”
Pritika Malhotra, Senior Research Associate, Foundation for Responsive Governance (ResGov): “NCAP was designed as a supplementary funding mechanism, with cities expected to leverage convergence across existing schemes to address air quality challenges as well. In practice, weak inter-departmental coordination, and inconsistent reporting limit clarity on the quantum of convergence spending. Strengthening information sharing and improving the granularity of public information on the PRANA portal, such that it shows even the nature of activities funded, will enhance transparency and financial governance.”
Sunil Dahiya, Founder and Lead Analyst, Envirocatalysts: “We need a revamp in the governance and regulatory framework around air pollution moving to sectoral absolute emission load reduction targets for sectors and departments within cities as well as in geographies in the larger air-shed with fixed timelines and accountability.”
While perspectives varied, there was strong convergence on one message: Clean air is achievable — but only if governance systems and city capacity are redesigned to match the scale and complexity of the problem.
This roundtable was a step toward reframing clean air as a city-systems challenge and beginning the work of redesigning for it.