01383pab a2200157 454500008004000000100001700040245007000057260000900127300001400136362001100150520094800161650004301109650002101152700001801173773003401191180718b2006   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aPethe, Abhay  aTowards economic empowerment of urban local bodies in Maharashtra  c2006  ap.635-41.  a16 Feb  aScarcity of resources for urban infrastructure is a universal concern in developing economies. Also, prudent mandate of macroeconomic management has led to a reduction in hand-downs from higher governments. The sub-national governments have had to look at several alternatives with a sense of urgency. In this paper we focus on the possibilities of the sub-national governments accessing, the financial markets in general and the debt market in particular. Our paper focuses on the need to create virtual entities - self-help groups amongst the urban local bodiws - that could expand the domain of eligible ULBs. We visualise a scheme for capital market access by ULBs, which would work without the state acting as an intermediary and also without any new institution being set up. We provide the theoretical underpinnings, illustrate and operationalise the idea with the help of data related to ULBs in the state of Maharashtra. - Reproduced.  aLocal government - India - Maharashtra  aLocal government  aLalvani, Mala  aEconomic and Political Weekly