Institutional framework for urban development with co-benefits: the Indian experience

•The potential for co-benefits in the Indian context is reviewed.•A review of urbanization, policies on climate change and urban sectors is presented.•Cross-cutting lessons for co-benefits are drawn from experiences in Indian cities.•Balancing interests, coordination and local participation are key components.

The co-benefits approach has been proposed as a means for mainstreaming environmental concerns into urban development, especially in developing countries. This paper reviews the Indian situation setting out the urban-environmental challenge. National policies related to urban development, climate change and specific sectors are examined and then, with the aid of cases, analysed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of generating co-benefits in the world's second most populous country.