Addressing the India Economic Summit, organised by World Economic Forum & Confederation of Indian Industry here, Mr Nilekani said, though India has achieved excellence in human capital, country’s shabby infrastructure is proving to be major stumbling block for the country’s development.

Speaking at the session on Building Centres of Excellence — A global Approach, Mr Nilekani said besides infrastructure, two other major impediments to achieve excellence were improper urbanisation and fragmanted economic markets.

Bemoaning that since independence India has not devised a planned system for urbanisation, he said: “We must understand that cities — small or big — if developed in systematic and planned manner, can become major drivers for economic growth for the entire economy, which, in turn, will boost rural and agricultural economy in tandem.”