Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, highlighted the government’s steadfast commitment to strengthening the Urban Transport network during a meeting with the Consultative Committee Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The focus of the meeting was Urban Transport.
Shri Jaideep, Joint Secretary & OSD, Urban Transport, MoHUA, presented detailed insights into the growth of the metro network across the country. The presentation included information about ‘One Nation One Card,’ a National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2019. NCMC facilitates seamless travel through various modes of public transport and can be used for retail transactions.
The meeting addressed issues related to metro connectivity, scaling up metro operations, last-mile connectivity, passenger amenities, and overall passenger comfort. Minister Puri informed that around 874 kilometers of metro rail is operational in 20 cities, with an additional 986 kilometers under construction in various cities. He emphasized that India is on its way to having the second-largest metro network globally.
The Minister also mentioned the “PM-eBus Sewa” scheme, recently approved by the cabinet, aimed at deploying 10,000 e-buses on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to enhance city bus operations. The scheme covers cities with a population of over 3 lakhs, and the selection of cities will be through a challenge method.