New Delhi, Aug 19 — Pune emerged as India's most economically vital metropolitan city, while South 24 Parganas was the strongest-performing emerging city, a report said on Wednesday.
The report from Dun & Bradstreet said Pune leveraged its diversified strengths across IT services, advanced manufacturing, automotive industries, education, and innovation-led economic activity to attain the top position.
Kolkata recorded the strongest growth momentum among metropolitan cities, signalling accelerating economic activity and investment potential, while Ahmedabad secured the second overall position.
Dun & Bradstreet’s City Vitality Index (CVI) for Apr-Jun 2026 tracked economic vitality in over 800 districts nationwide using satellite-derived Earth Observation data and economic indicators.
The report highlighted that established metropolitan centres continued to anchor the economy, but a growing number of emerging cities are contributing to economic activity across the country.
South 24 Parganas topped the emerging city rankings, followed by North 24 Parganas and Thane, highlighting the rising economic importance of districts beyond India's conventional metro centres.
Jaipur, Nashik, Surat, Murshidabad, and Ranga Reddy continue to strengthen their economic footprint, becoming important contributors to regional development, the report said.
“While metropolitan centres such as Pune continue to drive economic scale and productivity, an increasing number of emerging cities and districts are becoming significant contributors to investment, enterprise creation, and job generation,” said Dr. Arun Singh, Chief Economist, Dun & Bradstreet India.
Several districts have consistently outperformed over the past decade, including Dimapur, Panchmahals, Anand, Ayodhya, Rampur, Basti, Shamli, Boudh, Aurangabad, and Koderma, demonstrating sustained economic resilience and long-term growth momentum since Q2 2012.
“India's urbanisation journey is entering a more inclusive and geographically diversified phase, with businesses, investments, talent, and infrastructure development expanding across emerging cities at an accelerating pace,” the report noted.
New growth corridors will be increasingly important for investors, enterprises, developers, and policymakers on lookout for future opportunities to allocate their resources effectively, the firm said.