There have been other kinds of suggestions specifically in the Indian context, e.g., to convert the larger cities into Union Territories to give them some autonomy from political economy forces at the state level, which also tend to favour rural areas due to simple electoral arithmetic. Such ideas are worth examining.
But certainly, any means of giving cities both greater autonomy in resource mobilization, along with greater managerial capability need to be pursued, even if this is to be achieved within the existing federal framework.