Page 84 - HUDCO Award for Best Practices - 2024

THEME: URBAN TRANSPORT

Affordable, Reliable, Safe, and Sustainable Public

Transport in Indore

Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited (AICTSL), Madhya Pradesh

BACKGROUND

Being the cleanest city in India, Indore’s administration has time and again emerged as a pioneer of waste mitigation and management
strategies. One such strategy developed by Indore Municipal Corporation was to create bio-CNG from organic waste collected daily
from the city. The bio-methanation plant setup on PPP model in Indore has the capacity to produce 500 Tons-per-day of bio-CNG.
The Bio-CNG produced from this plant is used to fuel public transport buses that operate in Indore city. The bio-CNG used in
the buses is provided to Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited (AICTSL) a bus SPV at a ₹5 discount from market rate thus
providing financial value to city administration. Today AICTSL operates 179 CNG buses which constitute nearly 41% of its intracity
fleet helping in reducing tailpipe emissions from HCV in the city and increasing air quality. These 179 bio-CNG fuelled buses are
being operated in the city under AMRUT scheme initiated by the Government of India.

Indore city is spread across nearly 882 sq.km and consists of 120 villages apart from the area that comes under the ambit of Indore
Municipal Corporation. Being the economic capital and educational hub of central India, Indore has seen rapid rise in its population
in the past decade. This has resulted in increased traffic on city’s roads as mobility needs of the populace have translated to introduction
of large number of private vehicles on road daily. At some places in the city, traffic has seen a growth of nearly 200% between 2012
and 2022.

179 CNG buses are being operated in the city replacing traditional ICE buses.
FINANCIAL PROFILE

Organization FY 2021-22 FY 2022-23 TOTAL
Owner Sanctioned Amount (Rs.)

Partner I Sanctioned Amount (Rs.) 5.77 Crore 15.11 Crore 20.88 Crore
MAIN FOCUS OF THE BEST PRACTICE

a) Increase public transport availability in Indore city & Induce mode shift from private transit modes to public buses.

b) Reduce carbon emissions through introduction of alternate fuelled (CNG) buses.
KEY DATES

DATE(S) Significance/Achievement
7-November-2022 “Award of Excellence” by Ministry of Housing and urban Affairs, Govt. of India

ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIORITIES

The core issue behind this project was increased use of private transport and increased air pollution in the city. Thus, the priority
was boosting alternate fuelled Public Transport (PT) availability in the city to ensure reduction in carbon emissions. Increased PT
bus availability induces modal shift of commuters from private modes of transport and other polluting modes of intermediate para
transit to PT buses. This ensures that tailpipe emissions are reduced and traffic congestion eases. Further, since the PT bus fleet is
augmented with bio-CNG fuelled buses, the tailpipe emissions from PT buses are also significantly reduced.
MOBILISATION OF RESOURCES

Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited (AICTSL) has contracted ‘Maa associates’ as the bus operating agency (BOA). The roles
and responsibilities of BOA are:

68 69