AMRUT Atal Mission for

Rejuvenation and Urban

Transformation
INTRODUCTION
The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
June 2015 with the focus of the urban renewal projects is to
establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust
sewerage
networks
and
water
supply
for
urban
transformation. Rajasthan was the first state in the country to
submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The
scheme Housing for All by 2022 and Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) were
launched on the same day. The scheme is dependent with
public private partnership model(PPP) model. If required,
various other schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Housing for
All 2022, along with the local state schemes like that related to
water supply and sewerage and other infrastructure related
schemes can be linked to AMRUT.

INVESTMENT
About 1 lakh crore (US$15 billion) investment on urban
development under Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission
for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation of 500 cities has
already been approved by the government.

ELIGIBILITY
SAAP (State Annual Action Plans) is a consolidated plan of all
the city level SLIPs (Service Level Improvement Plans) of all
proposed AMRUT cities in the respective states. A formulation
on City level SLIP is done based on diligent estimation of
ambiguities in the availability of infrastructure like water
supply, sewerage network, draining system, transportation
facilities, available digital and internet facilities, industrial

facilities etc. 135litres per capita per day is another factor in

the process including water supply and sewerage connections
to all urban households.

TARGETS
Some of the broad targets of AMRUT scheme are ascertaining
that everyone has access to tap water and sewerage facilities,
greenery like parks and open spaces are well maintained,
digital and smart facilities like weather prediction, internet and
Wi-Fi facilities, pollution reduction by encouraging the public for
using cheaper but secure public transport etc.
Water Supply
I. Water supply systems including augmentation of existing
water supply, water
treatment plants and universal metering.
ii. Rehabilitation of old water supply systems, including
treatment plants.
iii. Rejuvenation of water bodies specifically for drinking water
supply and recharging of
ground water.
iv. Special water supply arrangement for difficult areas, hill and
coastal cities, including
those having water quality problems (e.g. arsenic, fluoride)
Sewerage
i. Decentralised, networked underground sewerage systems,
including augmentation
of existing sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants.
ii. Rehabilitation of old sewerage system and treatment plants.

iii. Recycling of water for beneficial purposes and reuse of

wastewater.

Septage
i. Faecal Sludge Management- cleaning, transportation and
treatment in a cost-effective
manner.
ii. Mechanical and biological cleaning of sewers and septic
tanks and recovery of
operational cost in full.
Storm Water Drainage
i. Construction and improvement of drains and storm water
drains in order to reduce
and eliminate flooding.
Urban Transport
i. Ferry vessels for inland waterways (excluding port/bay
infrastructure) and buses.
ii. Footpaths/walkways, sidewalks,
facilities for non-motorised

foot

over-bridges

and

transport (e.g. bicycles).

iii. Multi-level parking.
iv. Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS).
Green space and parks
i. Development of green space and parks with special provision
for child-friendly
components.
Reforms management & support

i. Support structures, activities and funding support for reform

implementation.
ii. Independent Reform monitoring agencies.
Capacity Building
i. This has two components- individual and institutional capacity
building.
ii. The capacity building will not be limited to the Mission Cities,
but will be extended to
other ULBs as well.
iii. Continuation of the Comprehensive Capacity Building
Programme (CCBP) after its realignment towards the new
Missions.
Indicative
components

(not

exhaustive)

list

of

inadmissible

i. Purchase of land for projects or project related works,

ii. Staff salaries of both the State Governments/ULBs,
iii. Power,
iv. Telecom,
v. Health,

IMPLEMENTATION
89 cities in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have been
allocated funds under the first phase of the mission. [4] A huge
allocation of fund has been done for them by the Apex
Committee of AMRUT under the State Annual Action Plans
(SAAP) for these states for period of 2015-16.At each city level
a City Mission Management Units (CMMUs) is proposed to be
set up which will assist the Urban Local Body (ULB) in terms of
staff and technology. The flagship program has already invited
a huge fund and participation of big companies. In later stage
the rest of the cities out of 500 will be finalized and
implemented for the next phase.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMRUT AND SMART

CITY
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT) has a wider reach in terms of the number of cities
covered and therefore the funds available for each city would
be proportionately less. The mission takes a project approach in
working towards improving existing basic infrastructure
services like extending clean drinking water supply, improving
sewerage networks, developing septage management, laying of
storm water drains, improving public transport services and
creating green public spaces like parks etc., with special focus
on creating healthy open spaces for children.
500 cities and towns will be selected on the basis of population
i.e. one lakh and above, while the other criteria of selection will
apply for certain locations like tourist popularity, cities located
at the stems of main rivers, certain popular hill towns and some
select islands. The centre is laying out guidelines on the basis
of which states will be free to suggest cities that they wish to
bring under AMRUT. AMRUT is actually a new avatar of the
existing JNNURM and will extend support to till 2017 to those
projects that are at least 50% complete under the earlier
JNNURM. Over 400 existing projects are likely to benefit from
this.
The Smart Cities Mission will focus on developing 100 select
Smart cities by focusing on optimising efficiencies in urban
services and infrastructure management, with proactive use of
technology and people participation. The Mission will support
each selected city with Rs 100 crore per year, for a period of
five years.
Given the fact that each city and town is unique and has its
own priorities for development, the Centre proposes an area
based approach to development that will cover retrofitting or
redevelopment as per Local Area Plan. While retrofitting will
focus on removing deficiencies in existing local infrastructure,
redevelopment will focus on re-building those areas where

existing infrastructure cannot be converted or improved further

due to limitations of space.
The Smart Cities Mission will also look at optimizing basic core
infrastructure services like clean drinking water supply,
optimized power distribution, introducing efficient solid waste
management, affordable housing to cater to various sections,
efficient and intelligent public transportation systems and
active use of IT infrastructure to improve service delivery and
management. New cities planned will incorporate all aspects of
urban infrastructure and ensure green and sustainable living.

DESOLUTION OF POWERS
Through both these missions, the Centre has taken a fresh
approach by involving active participation by the states and
giving the control to shortlist cities and towns to be brought
under the respective missions and take responsibility for their
implementation and fund allocation. In addition, the state will
undertake supervision and monitoring of project milestones, as
per agreed guidelines.
Unlike earlier practice, the Centre will not appraise project
performance and will leave that to the respective states.
Central contribution of funds release will be linked to broad
mission objectives being met.
The states will be free to suggest cities as per selection matrix
laid out by the centre. For instance, for the Smart Cities Project,
a Smart City Challenge competition will be launched for cities
that wish to come under the mission plan. The Centre plans to
link financing to the ability of each city to meet the mission
objectives.
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) will be created for each selected
city and the respective states will be responsible to ensure that
adequate resources are made available to the SPVs. The Centre
will extend funding support to the extent of 50% for cities with
a population of up to 10 lakhs, and a third of the project cost for
cities with a population above 10 lakhs.

Central funding to the states for each city will be released in

three instalments in the ratio of 20:40:40 and would be linked
to milestones being achieved, as per State Annual Action Plan.
To promote early implementation by the states, the centre will
incentivise the states by offering to release 10% of the budget
allocation, based on reforms implementation in the previous
year.
Through implementation of these missions, the Central
government hopes to catalyse transformation of approach and
functioning of the existing municipal corporations into
professionally run efficient bodies. For mission success, it is
imperative to introduce professional staff that can introduce egovernance, transparency in project tendering and monitoring,
reviewing existing Building by-laws, transparent and efficient
funds allocation and management, efficient tax collection
mechanisms, and most of all, inclusion of people participation
and focus on people-centric services. If successful, this will
indeed be a significant step for India to seriously build a
nationwide green and sustainable urban infrastructure.

CHALLENGES
Till now central control over projects did not succeed in
improving or incentivising state level involvement. With the
new approach of extending central funding support and leaving
it to the states to execute and monitor the projects as per their
priorities and local needs, the centre has shifted the challenge
and responsibility to the states.
The problem is that municipal functioning at the state level is
heavily politicized and corrupt. The big question is will the
states be able to rise above petty politics and ensure corrupt
free and efficient implementation of mission objectives? There
cannot be a successful urban mission of transformation without
establishing the requisite professionally run management
structure, with necessary checks and balances built-in, and one
that has the ability to adopt technology and deliver efficient
services.

POLITICAL INFLUENCES
As with any large project, there will always be the naysayers.
Both AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission have come under
criticism for being too ambitious and offering too little by way
of funding.
That maybe partially true. While it is true that the cities will
require significantly more than what has been offered by the
centre, however, it is also true that the states will be taking
their own initiatives in raising funds and resources to meet
mission objectives. Between both missions, the central funds
allocated is around Rs 100,000 crore, but with states
contributing their share, the total allocation could well touch Rs
200,000 crore.

CONCLUSION
It must be seen in the context where most cities and towns in
India have suffered years of neglect, with minimal investment
in improving existing infrastructure or building new ones. This
mission is a beginning towards initiating the much-needed
transformation. After all, urban infrastructure development
cannot stop with one government but must remain a part of an
ongoing process. The fact that this government has initiated
steps with active participation from the states, could well give
much needed impetus to an overstressed and obsolete
infrastructure. Its time for India to transform .

Risk analysis and Implementation

Management

ASSIGNMENT- 2
REPORT ON
AMRUT- Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation

By ASHUTOSH GUPTA
MBA INFRA
1602MPB