India News | Make It Mandatory for ULBs to Prepare Development Plan, Suggests Parliamentary Panel

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) It should be made mandatory for all urban local bodies in the country to prepare a development plan with "holistic and futuristic approach", a parliamentary panel on housing and urban affairs has said in its report.

The panel said that to assist the ULBs in this exercise, the Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry should engage global technical consultants and world-class town planners/experts and provide necessary funding.

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Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, chairperson of standing committee on housing and urban affairs (2024-25), on Wednesday presented in Lok Sabha the third report on the 'Demand for Grants (2025-26) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs'.

In its report, the committee said it is of the opinion that at times best of the schemes of the ministry "fail" to generate anticipated demand from various states and Union territories. Hence, an exercise in the direction of planning would lead to appropriate assessment of civic needs of all regions, it added.

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It has also recommended to the ministry to consult all stakeholders and prepare a broad vision document for 'Viksit Bharat @2047' and align the budgetary allocations to the vision.

The Viksit Bharat @2047 initiative envisions India as a developed nation by the centenary of its Independence in 2047. This transformative roadmap emphasizes inclusive development, sustainable progress, and effective governance, the report stated.

Facts brought before the committee show that by 2047, about 50 per cent of India's projected 175.2 crore population will reside in urban areas and the city regions' contribution to Gross Domestic Production (GDP) will be approximately 80 per cent.

"The need to align the Budget allocation with the broader vision of 'Viksit Bharat' with a five-year investment targets for next 20 years and then annual investment targets as this will provide the Ministry the precise direction required to achieve the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'," the committee said.

About the utilisation of proposed central funds under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0, the committee observed that even after the utilisation of proposed budgetary allocation of Rs 10,000 crore in the FY 2025-26, the Mission which is ending in 2026 still has to spend 68 per cent of its central share of Rs 76,760 crore.

On the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme which aims to augment city bus operations in urban areas with central assistance of Rs 20,000 crore for deploying 10,000 electric buses, the parliamentary panel said that the total demand of buses so far tendered for aggregation stands 6,518 e-buses from 13 states and four UTs.

The proposed Budget Estimate 2025-26 under PM-eBus Sewa Scheme is Rs 1,310.00 crore.

"The central assistance of Rs 24, 22, and 20 per km is proposed to be provided for 12-, nine- and seven-metre buses respectively. The committee feels that the proposed central assistance per kilometer based on the size of the bus is less and may result in increased financial burden on municipal corporations," the report said.

It also said that the condition of fixed assured kms of 160, 180, and 200 for seven, nine, and 12 metre respectively is proposed to be provided, adding that the committee is of the view that the same needs to be revisited as many municipal buses operate only for 150-160 kms daily.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)