Skip to main content

Floods, human pandemic biggest risks to Ahmedabad, Surat: Lloyd's city risk study

 
A high-profile study by top international consultants, Lloyd’s, has found that Ahmedabad’s 11.82 per cent of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), or 14.01 billion dollars out of the city GDP of 118.50 billion dollars, would be at risk because of manmade or natural threats. The study, titled “Lloyd's City Risk Index 2015-2025: Analysing the economic exposure from 18 threats”, has been carried out on 301 top world cities.
Based on an index worked out by the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, the study has chosen ten Indian cities – two of them from Gujarat – for assessing the risk factor. The Indian cities chosen are Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune and Kanpur.
The study shows that flood is the biggest threat to Ahmedabad, accounting for 3.45 billion dollars or 24.67 per cent of the city GDP at risk. Interestingly, the next to come is human pandemic, accounting for 23.54 per cent, or 3.30 billion dollars, of city GDP at risk.
Both the risk factors, floods and human pandemic, also figure at the very top for the other Gujarat city, Surat, analyzed. Surat’s city GDP at risk has been assessed at 12.07 per cent (8.09 billion dollars) of its annual GDP of 67.03 billion dollars. Floods account for 24.15 per cent of the GDP at risk in Surat, followed by human pandemic (23.09 per cent).
While Ahmedabad’s city risk ranking is 87th out of 301 world cities, Surat’s city risk ranking is 142nd.
Of the 10 Indian cities chosen, Mumbai’s international risk ranking is the highest in India, and 21st among 301 world cities. Mumbai is followed by Delhi with a city risk rank of 25th, Kolkata 53rd, Ahmedabad 87th, Pune 96th, Chennai 127th, Surat 142nd, Kanpur 155th, Hyderabad 162nd, and Bangaluru 176th.
The study, interestingly, has found that Mumbai faces the highest risk of terrorism than any other of the world, and for this it has singled out the November 26, 2008 Lashkar-e-Taiba assault on “major public locations”, especially Taj Hotel, which led to the death of 167 people.
The study says, “Terrorism remains a priority for businesses in India. Mumbai suffered bombings in 2003 and 2006 and another attack in July 2011. The frequency of attack highlights the difficulty of forecasting and preventing these events.”
Despite terrorism being the top-of-the-world risk for Mumbai, accounting for 7.94 billion dollars, this is 16.77 per cent of Mumbai’s city GDP at risk – 47.38 billion dollars – which is 11.44 per cent of the city’s annual GDP of 414.12 billion dollars.
A much bigger threat to Mumbai, the study suggests, is of human endemic, accounting for 11.44 billion dollars, or 24.14 per cent of Mumbai’s city GDP at risk.
The study says that globally, “the index identifies three important emerging trends in the global risk landscape.” Thus, over the next one decade, the “emerging economies will shoulder two-thirds of risk related financial losses as a result of their accelerating economic growth, with their cities often highly exposed to single natural catastrophes.”
“Manmade risks such as market crash, power outages and nuclear accidents are becoming increasingly significant, associated with almost half the total GDP at risk. A market crash is the greatest economic vulnerability – representing nearly a quarter of all cities’ potential losses”, the study warns.
Then come the “new or emerging risks”, it says, pointing towards “cyber attack” as an example. The new or emerging risks, it adds, “together account for more than a third of the total GDP at risk with just four – cyber attack, human pandemic, plant epidemic and solar storm – representing more than a fifth of the total GDP at risk.”
Meant basically as a guide for international insurance companies on where to invest and how, the study says, “Insurers must continue to innovate; ensure their products are relevant in this rapidly changing risk landscape, offer customers the protection they need and, as a result, contribute to a more resilient international community.”

Comments

TRENDING

From McKinsey to PwC: Two decades ago, same warning on GIFT City’s fragile foundations

This blog continues  my story , “A revdi-funded dream? Tax breaks, hype, unease: PwC reveals GIFT City’s fragile foundations.”  Ironic though it may seem, what PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) recently observed about the lack of a talent pool in Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s dream project, the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), had already been predicted by another global consultant — McKinsey & Company — not days or months ago, but more than two decades earlier in what was then described as a feasibility study.

Disappearing schools: India's education landscape undergoing massive changes

   The other day, I received a message from education rights activist Mitra Ranjan, who claims that a whopping one lakh schools across India have been closed down or merged. This seemed unbelievable at first sight. The message from the activist, who is from the advocacy group Right to Education (RTE) Forum, states that this is happening as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, which floated the idea of school integration/consolidation.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.  I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation  site   "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online." It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them."  Surely, this didn't interest...

'Shameful lies': Ambedkar defamed, Godse glorified? Dalit leader vows legal battle

A few days back, I was a little surprised to receive a Hindi article in plain text format from veteran Gujarat Dalit rights leader Valjibhai Patel , known for waging many legal battles under the banner of the Council of Social Justice (CSJ) on behalf of socially oppressed communities.

India’s expanding coal-to-chemical push raises concerns amidst global exit call

  As the world prepares for  COP30  in  Belém , a new global report has raised serious alarms about the continued expansion of coal-based industries, particularly in India and China. The 2025  Global Coal Exit List  (GCEL), released by Germany-based NGO  Urgewald  and 48 partners, reveals a worrying rise in  coal-to-chemical projects  and  captive power plants  despite mounting evidence of climate risks and tightening international finance restrictions.

Varnashram Dharma: How Gandhi's views evolved, moved closer to Ambedkar's

  My interaction with critics and supporters of Mahatma Gandhi, ranging from those who consider themselves diehard Gandhians to Left-wing and Dalit intellectuals, has revealed that in the long arc of his public life, few issues expose his philosophical tensions more than his shifting stance on Varnashram Dharma—the ancient Hindu concept that society should be divided into four varnas, or classes, based on duties and aptitudes.

Grey memories, silent youth: What Ahmedabad Emergency anniversary meet revealed

  Recently, I attended what I would call a veterans’ meet — a gathering to recall the  Emergency  imposed by  Indira Gandhi , whose resistance is said to have begun in  Ahmedabad  on  October 12, 1975 . At that time,  Gujarat  was one of the two states described as an “island of freedom.” It was ruled by  Janata Morcha  chief minister  Babubhai Jashbhai Patel . The other such “island” was  Tamil Nadu .

From Gujarat to Gaza: Tracing India’s growing complicity in Israel’s war economy

I have been forwarded a report titled “Profit and Genocide: Indian Investments in Israel”. It has been prepared by the advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) and authored by Hajira Puthige. The report was released following the Government of India’s signing of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with Israel.

Rs 2 treatment for cancer? Treat with utter caution, especially many times forwards on WhatsApp

The other day when I received a WhatsApp forward (it said "forwarded many times"), I got terribly worked up, even though I shouldn't have done it. I generally don't like such forwards as these seek to spread rumours. In fact, shouting out, I said, "Another nonsense from WhatsApp University... Why forward such unverified things?"