India Sustainable Mobility Initiative

April-June | 2026
Bilateral

Mitigation of Climate Change

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The Sustainable Urban Mobility Programme by ITDP is supporting national, sub-national, and city governments strengthen policies, build institutional capacity, and advance the implementation of public transport, walking, cycling, and electric mobility initiatives.

Project Updates

Supporting national programmes for low-carbon urban mobility

During the reporting period, ITDP strengthened engagement with national institutions to integrate sustainable mobility into large-scale government programmes. ITDP became a Knowledge Partner to the Government of India's INR 1,000 billion Urban Challenge Fund, supporting capacity building, project preparation, and knowledge dissemination for urban local bodies and states. ITDP also continued technical engagement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), NITI Aayog, and the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) to advance public transport, regulatory reforms, and gender-inclusive mobility. Through the Transport4All programme, ITDP supported the dissemination of implementation learnings and worked with national partners to explore pathways for scaling sustainable mobility solutions to Tier 2 cities, including approaches to strengthen institutional capacity and improve access to funding for implementation.

Strengthening sub-national implementation mechanisms

ITDP supported state governments in moving from policy commitments towards implementation. In Maharashtra, ITDP supported the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in developing a roadmap for bus electrification and public EV charging infrastructure. MSRTC was designated as the nodal agency for implementing public charging infrastructure under the Maharashtra EV Policy and issued a Letter of Intent for ITDP's continued technical support. In Tamil Nadu, ITDP's Complete Streets guidance was incorporated into the draft city roads submission under the Chief Minister's Integrated Urban Transformation Mission (CMIUTM), backed by an allocation of INR 21.17 billion, helping integrate walking and cycling infrastructure into state investment programmes.

Advancing implementation across lighthouse cities

Cities continued to translate policies into implementation through project preparation, technical studies and pilot interventions. Chennai launched the People Near Transit Analysis, providing evidence to improve public transport accessibility and multimodal integration. Chennai also progressed metro station accessibility planning, parking management and Vision 2031 implementation. Coimbatore and Madurai adopted key sustainable mobility policies and advanced implementation planning, while Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur progressed citywide parking management programmes. Nashik implemented its first Safe Routes to School pilot and secured commitments for permanent improvements, demonstrating a scalable model for safer school streets.

Building institutional capacity for long-term implementation

Alongside policy and project support, ITDP strengthened institutional capacity through targeted technical assistance and training. This included training 51 Assistant Regional Transport Officers (ARTOs) in Maharashtra on sustainable mobility, launching a railway station area planning capacity-building series with the Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management (IRITM), and supporting city agencies with evidence-based planning tools, implementation frameworks and technical guidance.

Contribution to climate mitigation

The project contributes to India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by supporting investments and policies that enable a shift towards public transport, electric mobility, and safer walking and cycling infrastructure. By embedding sustainable mobility into national programmes, state missions and city implementation plans, the project also contributes to SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).