The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry was allocated Rs 54,581 crore for the next fiscal, according to the Union Budget for 2021-22 announced on Monday.
The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, a flagship programme of the Modi government, has been given Rs 2,300 crore in the 2021-22 Union Budget that was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Monday.
The government has allocated 23,500 crore for the projects related to Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) and Metro services in the country.
The Smart Cities Mission, another flagship programme of this government, has been given Rs 6,450 crore as against Rs 3,400 crore in the 2020-21 revised estimates.
The National Capital Region Transport Corporation, which is executing the country's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, has been allocated Rs 4,472 crore as against 2,487 crore in the revised 2020-21 estimates.
The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, which aims at ensuring robust sewage networks, water supply and other infrastructure to improve the quality of life in urban areas, has been allocated Rs 7,300 crore.
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Sitharaman said the government will work towards raising the share of public transport in urban areas through expansion of metro rail network and augmentation of city bus service.
"A new scheme will be launched at a cost of Rs 18,000 crores to support augmentation of public bus transport services. The scheme will facilitate deployment of innovative PPP models to enable private sector players to finance, acquire, operate and maintain over 20,000 buses," she said.
She also said that the scheme will boost the automobile sector, provide a fillip to economic growth, create employment opportunities for the youth and enhance ease of mobility for urban residents.
A total of 702 km of conventional metro is operational and another 1,016 km of metro and RRTS is under construction in 27 cities.
The minister added that two new technologies -- Metro Lite and Metro Neo -- will be deployed to provide metro rail systems at much lesser cost with same experience, convenience and safety in Tier-2 cities and the peripheral areas of Tier-1 cities.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU