February 18, 2002

‘32’

    A new website, the India Urban Information Resource Centre, was launched here today by the Minister of State for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Shri Bandaru Dattatraya.

    The website aims at disseminating and promoting exchange of information on urban issues so as to serve a large number of urban local bodies, financial institutions, development authorities, state governments, public and private infrastructure organisations, consulting organisations, training institutions and other related organisations and individuals.

    The website, prepared by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIAU) can be accessed at http://www.indiaurbaninfo.com. This site contains seven databases: Resource Institutions, City Profiles, Infrastructure Projects, Case Studies, Documents, News Briefs and Training & Seminars.

    Launching the website, Shri Dattatraya underlined the need for reaching the people across the country by disseminating valuable information on the urban affairs.

    "The new website is an invaluable resource that will help to achieve the national goals of economic growth and sustainable development," he added.

    The website has been developed with the support of the Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion Project, a collaborative project of the Government of India and the United States Agency for International Development.

    At present, there are over 300 records in the database, of which about 150 can be currently accessed. The databases are being updated regularly and each database will be expanded with new information to keep readers abreast of the latest information in the field.