Analysis calls for BRICS urban audit platform on outcomes

The brief

Context

At the recent BRICS Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) Summit in Bengaluru, India's Comptroller and Auditor General argued that accountability must be at the centre of urban transformation, shifting audit focus from whether money was spent correctly to whether it improved citizens' lives. India is currently auditing 101 cities from a citizens' perspective on quality of life, sustainability and access. An Observer Research Foundation analysis by Dhaval Desai builds on this, citing CAG findings on the Smart Cities Mission in Dehradun and AMRUT in Kerala, and proposes a BRICS Urban Audit Platform for cities to benchmark outcomes in climate adaptation and service delivery.

Key facts

• India's CAG told the BRICS SAI Summit in Bengaluru that accountability must be at the heart of India's urban transformation.
• India is conducting a citizens'-perspective 'perception audit' of 101 cities, examining quality of life, sustainability and access.
• BRICS countries together represent nearly half the world's population and some of the fastest-expanding urban regions.
• The CAG audit of the Smart Cities Mission in Dehradun revealed several 'irregularities' in implementing expensive 'smart solutions'.
• A CAG audit of AMRUT in Kerala flagged weaknesses in planning, monitoring and evaluation, with project delays and underutilised assets.
• Indian cities contribute over 60 percent of the country's GDP, and will matter more to the Viksit Bharat 2047 agenda.
• INTOSAI's ISSAI standards distinguish compliance audits from performance audits focused on effectiveness and public value.
• The UK National Audit Office's 2025-30 strategy, 'Trust-Value-Impact', moves to an outcomes-based, value-for-money approach.

Timeline

1. 2014Mumbai-Shanghai Sister City Agreement signed, framing cooperation on urban development, transportation, fintech and economic exchanges.
2. Recent (date not stated in the source)BRICS Supreme Audit Institutions Summit held in Bengaluru; CAG of India stresses outcome-oriented, citizen-centric auditing.
3. 2025-30UK National Audit Office strategy period for 'Trust-Value-Impact', an outcomes-based audit approach.
4. 2047Target year of India's Viksit Bharat agenda, for which urban outcomes become more critical.

Who has a stake

• Comptroller and Auditor General of India — Leading the shift from compliance auditing to outcome and perception audits, including the audit of 101 cities.
• BRICS Supreme Audit Institutions — Could evolve from auditors of accounts into facilitators of urban policy learning through a proposed BRICS Urban Audit Platform.
• Municipal and state urban agencies in India — Currently rewarded for financial discipline and project completion; outcome audits would change their incentives and assessment.
• Urban citizens — Judge governance by buses arriving on time, working stormwater drains, affordable housing and accessible healthcare.
• BRICS cities (Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Cairo, Jakarta) — Share challenges of informal housing, congestion, environmental degradation, climate vulnerability and financing deficits.
• INTOSAI — Its ISSAI standards provide the basis distinguishing compliance from performance audits of effectiveness and public value.

Why it matters

With Indian cities producing over 60 percent of national GDP, whether urban spending actually cuts commute times or improves water availability directly shapes India's growth and its Viksit Bharat 2047 goals. Audits that stop at procurement compliance can certify projects that fail citizens, as the Dehradun Smart Cities and Kerala AMRUT findings suggest. A shared BRICS audit platform would make outcomes, not expenditure or rankings, the yardstick for city governance across the Global South.