Bangalore managed to attract the highest investment during the calendar year 2002 among the seven cities surveyed by the Ahmedabad Management Association in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Bangalore reported an investment of over Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion), while Ahmedabad managed to get less than Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion). Even Nagpur recorded an investment of over Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion).

Chandigarh, Indore, Lucknow and Surat were the other cities included in the City Monitor 2002, a survey of the quality of life in these cities.

According to the survey, Bangalore has the strongest economy among the cities and its comparative advantage lies in a highly diversified industrial mix, a strong manufacturing base and a large cluster of world-class infotech firms.

Moreover, Bangalore has the best quality of life and is ranked first in 'local economy' and 'civic services.'

Ahmedabad tops the list in the 'municipal finances' category, while Surat is No.1 in 'living environment'. Chandigarh gets the top spot in 'infrastructure' and ties with Bangalore for 'civic services.'

The survey was sponsored by 3iNetwork, a collaborative effort of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC).

In 2002, a year in which Gujarat was ravaged by communal riots, Ahmedabad failed to attract the kind of investment it usually does, the survey said.

The survey also found that Surat had an exceptionally strong industrial base. Not only that, the unemployment rate in the city, along with Ahmedabad, was also lower at 1 per cent. In comparison, the overall unemployment rate in most cities was between 4 per cent and 5 per cent.

Though Chandigarh had the best infrastructure, Bangalore had the longest road network per square kilometre, while Ahmedabad had wider roads compared with other cities.

The survey singled out Nagpur's Integrated Road Development Project for its excellent design and construction. It also found that only Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh had an exclusive local bus service.

As far as healthcare was concerned, the survey reported more private sector participation in this sector in most cities.

However, Surat and Lucknow residents preferred public hospitals over private ones. Ahmedabad had the largest number of hospitals and nursing homes, as also the highest number of hospital beds per 100,000 people.

According to the survey, Chandigarh has the highest per capita water output, while Surat has the highest coverage of piped water supply (95 per cent).

Surat was also found to have the most effective solid waste management system.

Interestingly, though the number of  'major fires' reported in Ahmedabad and Surat was much higher than other cities, Chandigarh had the most number of fire stations among them.

However, as far as street lights are concerned, Ahmedabad has the most connections per kilometre of road length.

The survey also found vehicle ownership to be the highest in Chandigarh, with more than one vehicle for every two persons.  But, Bangalore recorded the highest number of road accidents per 100 vehicles in 2001.

On the other hand, housing prices were highest in Bangalore, while electricity prices in Ahmedabad and Surat were higher than in other cities.