13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum Opens in New Delhi Under India's Chairship
India leverages BRICS platform to shape the global discourse on sustainable urban futures for the Global South
What happened
India holds the BRICS chair in 2026 — a moment that coincides with the country's own reckoning with an urban population projected to cross 600 million by 2036. For a UPSC aspirant, the 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum is not merely a diplomatic event; it is a live case study in how India is attempting to export its urban governance models while simultaneously importing best practices from peer economies. The forum also tests a recurring Mains theme: can multilateral platforms translate into actionable domestic policy, or do they remain declaratory?
Municipal Own-Source Revenue as % of GDP: BRICS Peer Comparison
Municipal Own-Source Revenue as % of GDP — BRICS Peer Comparison
Gap Alert: India's urban local bodies collect 14.8× less own-source revenue than Brazil and 10.2× less than China as a share of GDP — despite housing a projected 600 million urban residents by 2036.
Source: 15th Finance Commission Report, 2021; Economic Survey 2024-25
BRICS Urbanisation Forum is a Track-II/working-group mechanism under the BRICS Urban Development Working Group (UDWG). It is not a treaty body and produces non-binding recommendations, but its outputs feed into BRICS Summits and can shape bilateral urban cooperation agreements.
●India's chairship in 2026 follows the rotating presidency model — each member state holds the chair for one calendar year and sets thematic priorities.
●The expanded BRICS (post-2024) now includes 9 full members and several partner states, making it the largest plurilateral grouping by population.
●Key India-relevant urban missions that align with BRICS urbanisation discourse include AMRUT 2.0 (₹2.99 lakh crore outlay), Smart Cities Mission (100 cities), and PM SVANidhi (street vendor credit). The UN projects that 68% of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050, with virtually all net urban growth occurring in Asia and Africa — precisely the BRICS demographic heartland.
The single most testable fact: BRICS expanded in January 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE — the grouping now represents 40%+ of global population and ~30% of world GDP, making its urbanisation agenda a Global South priority, not a peripheral diplomatic exercise.
◎ In Simple Words
BRICS is a club of big, fast-growing countries — like a group project among some of the world's most powerful nations. India is currently the 'group leader' (chairship), so it gets to decide the agenda and host meetings. This particular meeting is about cities — how to make them cleaner, smarter, and fairer for the millions of people moving into them every year. Think of it like India inviting all the group members to discuss how to build better neighbourhoods, fix traffic, manage waste, and ensure everyone has a home — and then sharing those ideas back home too.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 2 questions
With reference to the BRICS grouping, consider the following statements:
1. BRICS expanded to include five new full members in January 2024.
2. The BRICS Urbanisation Forum is a legally binding treaty mechanism.
3. India held the BRICS Chairship in 2021 and hosted the 13th BRICS Summit virtually.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following best describes the 'AMRUT 2.0' scheme in the context of India's urban development policy?
Mains Practice Questions
India's chairship of BRICS in 2026 offers a strategic opportunity to reshape the global urbanisation agenda in favour of the Global South. Critically examine the opportunities and limitations of using multilateral platforms like BRICS to address India's domestic urban challenges. (250 words, GS2)
The 74th Constitutional Amendment promised empowered urban local bodies, but India's municipalities remain among the most fiscally constrained in the BRICS grouping. Analyse the structural reasons for this gap and suggest a roadmap for meaningful urban decentralisation. (250 words, GS2)
'Sustainable urbanisation is simultaneously a climate imperative and a development imperative.' In the context of India's urban transition and its BRICS commitments, evaluate how India's flagship urban missions align with the goals of SDG 11 and the Paris Agreement. (250 words, GS3)