Synopsis At the focus of urban development in India today are the urban local bodies or municipal bodies. In a fast urbanizing and globalising nation, we can have well managed cities and a good quality of life only when we have financially healthy municipalities. With the enactment of the Seventy Fourth Constitution Amendment Act of the year 1992, municipal bodies have been vested with more powers and provision for receiving more funds by way of devolution from the center and the state. In order to get into sharp focus the emerging concerns and challenges facing the municipal finance sector in India, the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi, conducted a National Seminar on Municipal Finance in December 2003. The seminar was sponsored by the Twelfth Finance Commission and coordinated by Dr. P.S.N. Rao, Professor of Urban Management, IIPA, New Delhi. This volume is a compilation of the papers and proceedings of this Seminar. It discusses the role of the Twelfth Finance Commission, Government of India in devolution to local bodies, the state of local finances and degree of delivery of municipal services and innovative methods of raising local revenues and making urban local bodies more healthy and financially