IIT Bombay Alum Calls Switzerland A Masterclass In "Country Planning", Sparks Debate On India's Infrastructure

Abhijeet Kumar, an IIT Bombay alumnus and co-founding partner at ah! Ventures Fund has triggered a viral discussion online after praising Switzerland's public transport system as a benchmark in urban and national planning. In a widely shared LinkedIn post following his visit to the Alpine nation, the Mumbai-based investor compared Switzerland's seamless infrastructure with the daily commuting struggles faced in Indian cities.

Kumar described Switzerland as a country where travelling does not feel exhausting or chaotic because of its highly efficient planning and transport infrastructure. According to him, the country is so well connected through trains, buses, trams and boats that commuters are rarely more than a five-minute walk away from public transport.

He also highlighted Switzerland's pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, noting the absence of broken footpaths, potholes, and sudden barricades that often disrupt movement in many cities.

"I have travelled to 36 countries, and after my recent trip to Switzerland, I finally understood what 'country planning' actually means. In Switzerland, the country behaves like it genuinely wants people to move around peacefully without turning every commute into an Olympic sport. The entire country is insanely well connected through trains, buses, trams and even boats. Wherever you want to go, you are probably just a 5-minute walk away from some mode of public transport. That's not infrastructure. That's a love language," he wrote in the post.

See the post here:

Beyond transport, Kumar said he was particularly surprised by the country's strong mobile connectivity even in remote mountain regions above 10,000 feet. He joked that people could climb mountains and still attend Zoom calls they were hoping to avoid.

"And if you enjoy walking, Switzerland feels like heaven. You can literally walk for miles continuously without broken footpaths, random barricades, surprise potholes or a bike suddenly appearing from another dimension. 100% walkable actually means 100% walkable there. What shocked me even more was that mountains at 10,000+ feet had better mobile connectivity than many urban areas in developing countries. Imagine climbing a mountain and still being able to join a Zoom call you were trying to escape from," he added. 

Kumar further contrasted Switzerland's infrastructure with the challenges faced by commuters in India. He pointed out that road design and traffic systems in Indian cities often leave both drivers and pedestrians feeling unsafe, while daily travel can become physically draining and highly unpredictable.

Despite the criticism, Kumar ended on an optimistic note, saying that Switzerland's success proves that large-scale, integrated urban planning is achievable and that India also has the potential to build similar systems in the future. "Still, the optimistic part is this: If humans can build cities like Switzerland, humans can definitely build better Indian cities too. Maybe one day our infrastructure will stop testing our patience more than our careers do," he wrote, concluding the post.