Important Government Schemes and Policies for Urban Public Transport in India

Urban public transport in India operates under targeted policies, central schemes, and statutory guidelines managed primarily by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. These frameworks govern mass rapid transit systems, electric bus fleets, regional rail corridors, non-motorised transit tracks, and common digital fare systems across metropolitan and tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

National Transport Policies and Guidelines

National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2006

• Formulated to prioritize the movement of people over the movement of private vehicles.
• Recommends the establishment of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTAs) in all cities with a population exceeding one million.
• Mandates the preparation of Comprehensive Mobility Plans (CMPs) to integrate land-use planning with transport corridors.
• Encourages the adoption of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) along high-density transit corridors.
• Directs cities to allocate road space equitably by reserving dedicated lanes for public buses and non-motorised transport.

Metro Rail Policy, 2017

• Establishes mandatory requirements for central financial assistance to new metro rail projects.
• Demands an Alternative Analysis report evaluating lighter and less capital-intensive transit modes like Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTS), MetroLite, or Light Rail.
• Mandates private sector participation in rolling stock, operations, maintenance, and fare collection systems.
• Sets a minimum Economic Rate of Return (ERR) threshold of 14% for project approval.
• Enforces feeder bus networks, non-motorised connectivity within a five-kilometre catchment zone, and unified ticketing before commissioning lines.

Flagship Central Urban Mobility Schemes

PM-eBus Sewa Scheme

• Approved with a total outlay of Rs 57,613 crore, including central support of Rs 20,000 crore for ten years.
• Deploys 10,000 electric buses across 169 cities using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
• Prioritizes cities with populations between 3 lakh and 40 lakh that lack organized public bus networks.
• Segment A: Covers city bus operations, depot construction, and behind-the-meter power infrastructure.
• Segment B (GUMI): Implements Green Urban Mobility Initiatives in 181 cities, including multi-modal interchange infrastructure, automated fare collection, and charging networks.
• Features a dedicated Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) managed by the Ministry of Heavy Industries to guarantee operator payments.

Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME India)

• FAME Phase-I (2015): Supported pilot deployments of hybrid and electric buses across select metropolitan areas.
• FAME Phase-II (2019): Allocated over Rs 10,000 crore to subsidize nearly 7,000 electric buses for state transport undertakings and municipal corporations.
• Transitioned into the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme to support ongoing public fleet electrification.

Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS)

• Developed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), a joint venture between the Union Government and participating state governments.
• Implements semi-high-speed rail corridors linking Delhi with regional satellite nodes at operational speeds up to 160 km/h.
• The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor serves as the priority line, utilizing trainsets known as Namo Bharat.

Alternative and Low-Cost Rapid Transit Models

MetroLite System

• Operates as a light urban rail system designed for cities with Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic (PHPDT) up to 15,000 passengers.
• Runs on dedicated surface tracks or elevated corridors with a lighter axle load of roughly 12 tonnes.
• Requires less capital investment than conventional heavy metro systems.

MetroNeo System

• Operates with articulated or bi-articulated electric rubber-tyred trolleybuses running on dedicated elevated or at-grade guide-ways.
• Powered by overhead electrical traction wires, eliminating track laying and heavy civil viaducts.
• Designed for medium-density routes with PHPDT between 5,000 and 10,000 passengers.

Urban Ropeways and Water Metro Projects

• National Ropeways Development Programme (Parvatmala Pariyojana): Uses aerial cableways for urban congested nodes and hilly terrains.
• Kochi Water Metro: Integrates 78 battery-powered hybrid ferries connecting ten island communities with mainland Kochi under a single integrated transport network.

National Common Mobility Card and Digital Integration

National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)

• Launched in March 2019 under the concept of “One Nation, One Card”.
• Built on an open-loop contactless EMV standard issued by commercial banks on the RuPay network.
• Enables riders to pay for metro, city buses, suburban rail, toll plazas, parking charges, and retail purchases using a single card.
• Supported by indigenous Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates developed jointly with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

Active Urban Transport Challenges

• India Cycles4Change Challenge: Supported cities in developing dedicated cycling corridors, traffic-calmed zones, and non-motorised transit infrastructure.
• Streets for People Challenge: Focused on pedestrianising high-density market streets and installing traffic-calming street designs.
• Transport4All Challenge: Collaborated with domestic start-ups and digital developers to create crowd-sourced transit tracking apps and digital booking platforms.

Facts on Urban Public Transport Schemes in India

• The first operational metro rail system in India started in Kolkata in 1984, running from Esplanade to Bhowanipore.
• Metro rail networks in India operate across more than twenty cities, with Delhi Metro maintaining the largest network length.
• The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor features the Namo Bharat train, which operates at a design speed of 180 km/h.
• The Urban Transport Planning and Capacity Building scheme provides financial grants up to 80% to state governments for drafting Comprehensive Mobility Plans.
• India’s first driverless metro train began operations on the Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro in December 2020.
• Kochi Water Metro is the first integrated water transport system of its scale in Asia to operate commercial electric-hybrid boats.
• The Ministry of Heavy Industries introduced the Payment Security Mechanism to safeguard concessionaires against delayed operational payments by state transport undertakings.
• The standard axle load for conventional heavy metro systems in India is 16 tonnes, compared to 12 tonnes for MetroLite systems.
• Ahmedabad introduced the first operational Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in India under the brand name “Janmarg” in 2009.
• Under the PM-eBus Sewa guidelines, central assistance provides 100% funding for behind-the-meter electrical charging substations built inside bus depots.