India has an operational 874 kilometre of metro network across its 20 cities, housing minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said. The country also has about 986 km of metro network in the making in various other cities, the minister added in a statement issued on October 12, 2023. India was well on its way to have the second-largest metro network of the world, the minister stressed.
Adressing the Consultative Committee Members of Parliament attached to his ministry, Puri emphasised on the government’s unwavering commitment to strengthening the urban transport network across the country.
The minsitry also briefed the members of the group on One Nation One Card, an indigenously developed National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2019. The card enables seamless travel through metro, rail, bus and other public transport operators. It can also be used in shops, restaurants, ATMs, kioss, fuel purchase and parking. The NCMC card is based on qSPARC (quick Specification for Payment Application of Rupay Chip) developed by the National Payments Corporation of India ( NPCI). The NCMC card can currently be used in the Delhi Metro, the Bengaluru Metro, the Mumbai Metro, the Chennai Metro, the Ahmedabad Metro and the Kanpur Metro.
Puri also spoke about the PM-eBus Sewa, a scheme recently approved by the Cabinet for augmenting city bus operations by deploying 10,000 e-buses on a public-private partnership model.
Features of PM-eBus Sewa
- 10,000 e-Buses to run on a PPP mode
- Operations support for 10 years
- Support for development/upgrade of bus depot
- Support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure
- Coverage of cities with over 3 lakh population
- Selection of cities through a challenge method
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