CAG conducting audit of 101 cities to assess ease of living

metro india news  I Bengaluru

India is conducting a special audit of 101 cities to assess ease of living from the citizen's perspective, Comptroller and Auditor General K Sanjay Murthy said on Thursday.

In his inaugural address at the 5th BRICS Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) Leaders' Summit here, Murthy also said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is auditing multi-modal transport and first-mile, last-mile logistics, in partnership with institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management, and the World Bank.

India is hosting the three-day summit under the overarching theme 'Ease of Living with a Focus on Urban Mobility'.

Convened during India's year of BRICS Chairmanship 2026 by the Office of the CAG, the summit brings together 42 delegates, including Heads of SAIs from BRICS member countries, to deliberate on audit themes of shared relevance, exchange best practices, and strengthen public financial oversight.

"There is something particularly fitting about gathering here in the city that India calls both its Silicon Valley and its Garden City.

"A city that writes the software powering the world's most advanced enterprises, and where, on the very same morning, a nurse boards an overcrowded bus for a ninety-minute commute to save lives that software cannot reach. Bengaluru, in that way, is not just a host city. It is the living argument for why this summit matters," Murthy said.

He said Indian cities today occupy just 3 per cent of the country's land, yet they contribute 60 per cent of the national GDP. By 2030, 70 per cent of all new jobs in India will be created in cities.

"Urban mobility is where governance stops being abstract and starts being personal. It is the daily referendum that citizens conduct on their governments, not at the ballot box, but at the bus stop," he noted.

Global congestion indices have risen from 20 per cent to 25 per cent as of 2025, costing each urban commuter between 100 and 180 hours of productive time every year. "And yet, the solutions are not unknown," the CAG said, adding that the barrier is governance. He further said the urban mobility fails not for want of roads or rails, but for want of systems that work together.

"We build metro lines that don't connect to bus networks. We build flyovers that merely shift congestion. We measure outputs, kilometres of road laid, stations built, rather than outcomes: did commute times fall? Did air quality improve? Did inequality in access reduce?" he added.

Talking about the evolving mandate of Supreme Audit Institutions, Murthy said that beyond traditional audit reports, the SAI India is now offering value-added products like departmental appreciation notes, management letters, and study reports.

"We are conducting a special audit of one hundred and one Indian cities, assessing ease of living from the citizen's perspective, across quality of life, access, sustainability, and perception," he said.

Representing over 3 billion people and some of the world’s fastest-growing urban populations, BRICS nations face common challenges, such as urban mobility, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and equitable access to public services - areas where collective insights from SAIs can play a crucial role, the Office of CAG said in a release.

During the summit, presentations are scheduled from SAIs of Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and the UAE, along with experts in urban finance and mobility, it said.

The summit will conclude with the discussion and adoption of the BRICS SAI Work Plan 2027–28 and the Bengaluru Declaration, followed by closing remarks by the CAG of India.