India’s cities are expanding on a larger scale and at a faster pace than ever before. To date, though, the country has avoided dealing with the hard questions about how best to manage its massive urbanization. The policy vacuum may lead to worsening urban decay, poor quality of life for citizens, and a reluctance among investors to commit funds to projects in India’s urban centers.

A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI)—India’s urban awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth—finds that a lack of effective policies to manage urbanization could jeopardize India’s GDP growth rate. But international experience shows that India could turn its cities around in a decade. If the country makes and executes the right policy choices, it could boost annual GDP by 1 to 1.5 percentage points, taking the economy close to the double-digit growth it needs to create sufficient jobs for the 270 million people expected to enter the working-age population over the next 20 years.

The report projects that the country’s urban population will soar to 590 million in 2030, from 340 million in 2008. India’s cities could generate 70 percent of the net new jobs created by 2030, produce more than 70 percent of the country’s GDP, and stimulate a near-fourfold increase in per capita income.