India, France sign agreement on ‘Mobilise Your City’ programme

In an effort to develop sustainable urban transport under the Smart City Mission, India and France have recently signed an agreement under which Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad will be provided support to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in urban transport.

“India and France signed an implementation agreement on ‘Mobilise Your City’ programme in which Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad will be provided support to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in urban transport. It aims at providing solutions in a fully integrated manner, analysing different modes of transportation within th urban fabric, with th objective of achieving long term, sustainable, adequate, reliable, and cost efficient transportation opportunities,” the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The Mobilise Your City partnership is a global and inclusive network of cities and countries as well as an umbrella brand of European development cooperation particularly related to the field of sustainable urban transport.

Under the partnership, AFD bank of France has been appointed as the implementing agency and the estimatd cost of the project is estimated to be between 3 and 5 million euros.

India has 40 cities with over one million inhabitants, making it the world’s third largest global source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With India’s 377 million inhabitants in urban centres expected to grow to 590 million in 2030, there will be an increase in urban mobility needs.

Under the agreement, France will be implementing urban mobility plans at the local level in these three Indian cities on a pilot basis and then support India at the national level to improve its sustainable transport policy. The plan includes capacity-building for municipal corporations and unified metropolitan transport authorities.