Mumbai : Visakhapatnam has won a $1 million grant in the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025–2026 Mayors Challenge for its climate resilience initiative, Vizag–Prajamukhi Urban Living Lab (V-PULL). The award was announced on February 25.
The city was selected as one of 24 global winners from more than 630 participating cities. The V-PULL model, developed by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), focuses on citizen-led approaches to address floods, cyclones and heatwaves through localised governance and community participation.
In the earlier phase of the competition, GVMC was shortlisted among the top 50 finalists and received $50,000 in seed funding along with technical assistance. The civic body used this support to conduct ward-level community meetings, test hyperlocal sensing systems and introduce data-driven decision-making tools.
According to GVMC, participatory climate resilience and disaster preparedness measures strengthened coordination between citizens and municipal departments.
“Being selected as a winner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025–2026 Mayors Challenge is a great honour for GVMC,” said Commissioner Ketan Garg. He said the grant will be used to expand the bottom-up governance approach, enhance disaster preparedness and extend initiatives to more wards.
The Mayors Challenge, launched by Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former Mayor of New York City, supports city governments in addressing urban challenges.
With the award, Visakhapatnam joins 23 other international cities on the global climate innovation platform.
