Bengaluru and Pune were on Thursday ranked the top two cities in terms of ease of living in the 10 lakh-plus population category, followed by Ahmedabad, Chennai and Surat.

The Ease of Living Index and the Municipal Performance Index 2020 was released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Shimla ranked the first in the “below 1 million” category on the Ease of Living Index, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada and Salem.

“The Ease of Living Index (EoLI) is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development,” the government said. “It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities across India based on quality of life, economic-ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience. The assessment also incorporates the residents’ view on the services provided by city administration through a Citizen Perception Survey.”

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The government added: “The Ease of Living Index encapsulates the outcome indicators while the Municipal Performance Index captures the enabling input parameters. These indices provide a holistic assessment of cities based on their efforts to cultivate better quality of life, create infrastructure, and address challenges of urbanization.”

Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city is ranked the best-performing municipality in the million-plus (10 lakh) population category. The New Delhi Municipal Council bagged the top spot in the below one million-category.

Surat, Bhopal, Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune were among the top-performing municipalities with a population of above 10 lakh. Tirupati, Gandhinagar, Karnal and Salem were the top-ranked municipalities in the smaller category.

The Centre said that findings from the indices will help it identify certain gaps and improve administrative efficiency to make the lives of the citizens better.