The Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, stated categorically in Rajya Sabha on Monday that urban infrastructure development is a State subject.
The government confirmed full support for states in this agenda through flagship missions and schemes such as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0, Smart Cities Mission (SCM), Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) 2.0, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), and Urban Transport projects.
Replying to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma regarding private investment in the cities, the government’s proposal, and the Public Private Partnership mode for developing urban infrastructure.
The minister responded that urban infrastructure has been funded through budgetary support, with some funding coming from public and private sources, including public-private partnerships.
Public-private partnerships are a tool in the development of urban infrastructure, which covers all the Mission guidelines given below.
AMRUT 2.0 guidelines allow cities with more than 10 lakh residents to undertake 10% of their projects through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The Smart Cities Mission, on the other hand, aims to promote projects in the 100 smart cities. In this case, if the government releases funds and the state governments also contribute funds, and if the project is not completed due to a lack of money, then the rest of the amounts are likely to be mobilised by other sources, including PPPs.
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) style of urban infrastructure development is encouraged by the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, which will be decided by the relevant state government or urban local body.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) ‘Housing for All’ Mission encourages private investment for the construction of houses in affordable housing partnerships (AHP) and in-situ slum development verticals. Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) were launched as a sub-scheme under PMAY-U on 31/07/2020 to utilise the vacant government-funded houses constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. (JNNURM) and incentivizing public and private entities to leverage investment for the creation of affordable rental housing stock if they have vacant land.
Metro Rail Policy 2017 encourages Public Private Partnership for the implementation of metro rail projects to control both public and private resources, expertise, and entrepreneurship. According to the policy, the state government is ready to get central financial help for forthcoming metro rail projects. Public Private Partnership is also being made in other forms, such as operation and maintenance, fare collection, or any other unbundled activities of the proposed metro rail project, to the extent that it is feasib