New Delhi: Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Manohar Lal has said that India will soon have the second-largest metro network in the world. Manohar Lal during his meeting with the Consultative Committee members of Parliament attached to the MoHUA said that urban mobility is an important aspect of tackling the rising urban population and his government is working relentlessly to strengthen the urban transport network across the country.
“About 993 kilometres of metro rail is operational in 23 cities across the country and about 997 kilometres is under construction in 28 cities in the country. India is well on its way to having the 2nd largest metro network of the world,” said Manohar Lal during the meeting that was held on Wednesday late evening.
The members were also briefed about the ongoing projects of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) network, including its funding pattern. Briefing to the members also covered initiatives taken to promote the indigenisation of technologies under Make in India and promote Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The meeting also discussed “PM-eBus Sewa”, a scheme for augmenting city bus operations by deploying 10,000 e-buses on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The Central Government launched the “PM-eBus Sewa” scheme on August 16, 2023, which aims to augment city bus operation by deploying 10,000 electric buses on the PPP model and developing civil depot and Behind the Meter (BTM) power infrastructure in urban areas by providing central assistance to cities with a population size between 3 and 40 lakh, as per census 2011, including capital cities having population less than three lakh.
During the meeting, the Members of Parliament raised issues pertaining to urban mobility, which included matters related to last-mile connectivity, enhancement of amenities, metro connectivity in their respective constituencies and states, scaling up of metro operations in the country, ease of travel, and passenger comfort.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Dinesh Sharma, Ajay Makan, Kamaljeet Sherawat, PN Vasava, Prof VE Gaikwad, Kavita Patidar, BM Sutariya, VE Vaithilingam, G Lakshminarayana, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Y Chandolia attended the meeting.
