<\/p>\n
Hardeep S Puri<\/p>\n
Rome was not built in a day, and neither will be the New Urban India. But even as we
\ndemand more from our cities, we must also pause to acknowledge the distance we have
\nalready travelled. For decades after Independence, India\u2019s urban spaces were an
\nafterthought. Nehru\u2019s fascination with Soviet-style centralisation gave us the likes of
\nShastri Bhavan and Udyog Bhavan, concrete monoliths already crumbling by the 1990s,
\nmonuments to bureaucracy rather than service.
\nBy the 2010s, central Delhi presented a dismal sight: potholed avenues, drab and leaking
\ngovernment buildings, and peripheral roads in NCR that were hopelessly jammed.
\nExpressways were scarce, metros were confined to a handful of cities, and civic
\ninfrastructure was visibly decaying. A country aspiring to global leadership had a capital
\ncity that reflected only neglect.
\nPrime Minister Narendra Modi changed that trajectory. He placed cities at the heart of the
\nnational development agenda, treating them not as burdens to be managed but as engines
\nof growth and symbols of pride. The transformation is visible everywhere. The Central
\nVista redevelopment turned Kartavya Path into a people\u2019s space, the New Parliament into
\na future-ready institution, and Kartavya Bhawan into a streamlined hub for governance.<\/p>\n
Where once there was decay, there is now ambition and confidence.
\nThe scale of this change is backed by numbers. Between 2004 and 2014, cumulative
\ncentral investment in India\u2019s urban sector was around \u20b91.57 lakh crore. Since 2014, that
\nfigure has risen to nearly \u20b928.5 lakh crore, a sixteenfold increase. In Budget 2025\u201326
\nalone, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs was allocated \u20b996,777 crore, with one-
\nthird for metros and a quarter for housing. This unprecedented financial commitment is
\nreshaping the urban fabric at a pace never seen before in independent India.
\nIndia\u2019s broader economic and digital surge amplifies this momentum. Today, we are the
\nworld\u2019s fourth-largest economy at roughly $4.2 trillion, with digital rails powering
\neveryday life. UPI just crossed 20 billion transactions in a single month and handles over
\n\u20b924 lakh crore in value monthly. Over 900 million Indians are now online, and 56 crore
\nJan Dhan accounts anchor the JAM trinity that delivers subsidies directly and
\ntransparently. This scale of formalisation and fintech adoption is uniquely Indian, and
\nprofoundly urban in its impact.<\/p>\n
The metro revolution illustrates the transformation on the ground. In 2014, India had
\nabout 248 km of operational metro across five cities. Today, over 1,000 km span more
\nthan 23 cities, carrying more than one crore passengers daily. Dozens of new corridors
\nare under construction, from Pune and Nagpur to Surat and Agra, making urban
\ncommutes faster, cleaner and safer. This is not just steel and concrete; it is reduced travel
\ntimes, cleaner air, and millions of hours of productivity returned to citizens.<\/p>\n
Urban connectivity has been rewritten. NCR\u2019s choked peripheries are being decongested
\nby the newly inaugurated UER-II, Delhi\u2019s third ring road, linking NH-44, NH-9 and
\nDwarka Expressway to ease traffic at chronic bottlenecks. India\u2019s first Regional Rapid
\nTransit System, the Delhi\u2013Meerut RRTS (NaMo Bharat), is already running on major
\nsections and nearing full commissioning, slashing end-to-end travel to under an hour.
\nThese high-speed, integrated systems are defining a new metropolitan logic for a new
\nIndia.<\/p>\n
Expressways are recasting inter-city movement. The Delhi\u2013Mumbai Expressway, the
\nBengaluru\u2013Mysuru Expressway, the Delhi\u2013Meerut access-controlled corridor, and the
\nMumbai Coastal Road are shortening distances and cleaning city air by taking long-haul
\ntraffic out of local streets. Atal Setu in Mumbai, the nation\u2019s longest sea bridge, now
\nseamlessly connects the island city to the mainland. The Mumbai\u2013Ahmedabad high-
\nspeed rail, India\u2019s first bullet train corridor, is advancing apace and will anchor a Western
\ngrowth spine.<\/p>\n
Inclusion has remained central. PM SVANidhi has extended collateral-free credit and
\ndigital empowerment to over 68 lakh street vendors, helping micro-entrepreneurs rebuild
\nlivelihoods and enter the formal economy. PM Awas Yojana (Urban) has sanctioned
\nmore than 120 lakh houses, with about 94 lakh already completed. Millions of families
\nonce confined to slums now live in secure pucca homes. These are not just statistics; they
\nare transformed lives and aspirations unlocked.
\nEnergy reform is improving daily urban life. Where kitchens once depended on costly
\nand uncertain cylinder bookings, piped natural gas (PNG) is increasingly the norm, safer,
\ncleaner and more convenient. City Gas Distribution has expanded from just 57
\ngeographical areas in 2014 to over 300 today. Domestic PNG connections have risen
\nfrom about 25 lakh to over 1.5 crore, while thousands of CNG stations power cleaner
\npublic transport. Turning a tap for fuel is now a reality for millions of urban homes.<\/p>\n
India has built the confidence to host the world. Bharat Mandapam successfully hosted
\nthe G20 Leaders\u2019 Summit. Yashobhoomi has emerged among the largest convention
\ncomplexes globally, capable of welcoming tens of thousands of delegates. India Energy
\nWeek has drawn the global energy ecosystem to Bengaluru, Goa and New Delhi,
\nsignalling that our cities can convene the world at scale and with style. None of this
\nwould have been imaginable when dilapidated halls and crumbling stadia defined our
\ncivic infrastructure.
\nTransport modernisation is happening at scale and speed. Operational airports have more<\/p>\n
than doubled, from 74 in 2014 to about 160 today, thanks to UDAN and sustained
\ninvestments. Vande Bharat now runs on over 140 services, cutting travel times across
\nregions. Over 1,300 railway stations are being modernised under the Amrit Bharat Station
\nScheme, with more than a hundred already inaugurated. In Delhi, the expanded Terminal-
\n1 has lifted IGI\u2019s capacity past 100 million passengers per annum, putting our capital in
\nthe global big league.
\nSensible tax policy supports consumers and growth. The recent GST rationalisation
\nmoves most goods and services into 5% and 18% slabs, with steep rates reserved only for
\nselect sin and luxury items. Essentials from personal-care items to many household
\ndurables have seen rate cuts; small cars and two-wheelers now attract lower GST; several
\nmedicines and medical devices have become cheaper. For urban households, this means
\nlower monthly bills, stronger consumption and a virtuous cycle of investment and jobs.
\nHaving represented India abroad for decades as a diplomat, I saw firsthand how cities
\nserve as the face of a nation. Vienna\u2019s Ringstrasse, New York\u2019s skyline, or the
\nboulevards of Paris all embodied national ambition. It was clear to me that global
\nperception begins in urban spaces. This conviction has guided my work in urban affairs:
\nto ensure that Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and our other cities reflect the
\nconfidence, modernity, and aspirations of a rising India. Just as my diplomatic career
\ntaught me the value of projecting India\u2019s image internationally, my ministerial role has
\nbeen to make our cities worthy of that image.
\nThis is the arc of transformation: from post-Independence neglect to Modi-era
\nmodernisation. From Shastri Bhavan\u2019s decay to Kartavya Bhawan\u2019s ambition. From
\npotholed roads to expressways and high-speed corridors. From smoke-filled kitchens to
\npiped natural gas. From slums to millions of Pucca homes. From crumbling halls to
\nworld-class convention centres. From a hesitant capital to a confident global host.
\nIndia\u2019s ancient cities like Pataliputra and Nalanda once embodied the heights of urban
\ncivilisation. Today, under Prime Minister Modi, Indian cities are again on that path,
\nmodern yet humane, ambitious yet inclusive, global in outlook yet rooted in our values.<\/p>\n
New Urban India is not being built in a day. But it is being built every day, brick by
\nbrick, train by train, home by home. And it is already transforming the lives of millions.<\/p>\n
The writer is the Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"