In a bid to make the Urban Local Bodies financially sound and take up new developmental projects, the Centre has asked the states to hasten the implementation of urban reforms.

"There is a need for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to become financially sound with enhanced credit rating and ability to access market capital for undertaking new programmes and expansion of services," a senior official of the Ministry of Urban Development said.

The reforms include introduction of e-governance, use of IT applications in providing services, reform of property tax collection system to improve efficiency level to at least 85 per cent within next seven years, repeal of Urban Land Ceiling Act, reform of rent control laws and rationalisation of stamp duty.

In a review meeting on urban reforms, convened by the Urban Development Ministry recently, it was found that states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala have performed well in the implementation of urban reforms while national Capital Delhi is yet to catch up with them.

Based on performance in the implementation of infrastructure improvement projects and implementation of reforms, the ministry has started credit rating of the ULBs through independent professional bodies.

The rating is continuously reviewed by monitoring the performance, officials said.

Implementation of the Centre's guidelines on urban reforms is crucial for getting funds under the JNNURM.

In the review, it was pointed out that 74 projects for improvement of urban infrastructure and governance in big cities have been completed so far while 524 projects had been approved till May 2010.

Similarly for the improvement of urban infrastructure in small and medium towns, out of 763 projects, 114 have completed.

Most of the projects relate to water supply, treatment of sewerage, drainage of storm water, solid waste management, preservation of water bodies, development of parking sites and improvement of urban transport.

Officials of the ministry have been asked to finalise action plan for speedy implementation of the projects in the next two years and persuade the state governments to expedite the submission of detailed project reports.

Sources said the Centre has stressed on the continuous monitoring of implementation of the projects by independent agencies.