Southern States and Union Territories (UTs) are leading the pack in he country’s urbanisation. India’s urban population increased from 27.80 per cent of the total population in 2001 to 31.10 per cent in 2011, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Four Southern States and six Union Territories along with Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura have led this growth, he said. Industry players say that this is because these States are becoming hubs of IT and industry, and also have a a quick approval mechanism.

As against the national average, the urban population increased by 21.70 per cent in Kerala, 6.10 per cent in undivided Andhra Pradesh, 4.70 per cent in Karnataka and 4.40 per cent in Tamil Nadu.

Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman of CREDAI, said: “The Southern States seem to have improved rules and regulations … For instance, Andhra Pradesh has done away with FAR or FSI limits. Moreover, approvals are quicker there as compared to States such as Maharashtra.” Urbanisation is also due to rapid industrial growth in southern cities. While Bangalore and Hyderabad are known IT hubs, Chennai is not far behind.

Vineet Relia, Chief Operating Officer, SARE Homes, said: “Urbanisation happens wherever there are economic drivers. For us, Gurgaon and Chennai are the biggest corridors. Interestingly, Chennai, which has become a hub for heavy industry for automobiles, was among the destinations attracting the most FDI in 2012.” SARE has two housing projects in Chennai.

In 2013, office space absorption in Bangalore was the highest in India followed by Delhi-NCR, according to industry reports.

Gaurav Kashyap, CFO, Cherry Hill Interiors Ltd, said: “South India is one of our key business hubs and the growth of office space and the presence of a skilled workforce in the region has significantly contributed to rapid urbanisation. Some of the key emerging office hubs in the South, such as Telangana, Coimbatore, areas around Bangalore, Davangare, Mysore, Hassan will also aid in further urbanisation.”

In UTs, apart from Puducherry which reported 1.70 per cent higher urbanisation, all others saw growth higher than the national average.

Other States which surpassed national average include Goa (22.40 per cent), Sikkim (14.10 per cent), Nagaland (10.70 per cent), Haryana (6.0 per cent), Gujarat (5.20 per cent), Uttarakhand (4.50 per cent), West Bengal (3.90 per cent) and Punjab (3.60 per cent).

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