Gandhinagar: Bhubaneswar emerged as a standout city at the 17th Urban Mobility India (UMI) Conference & Exhibition 2024, winning the prestigious “Best Public Transport System” award. Held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, the three-day event spotlighted sustainable urban mobility and recognized Bhubaneswar’s achievements in transforming its public transit infrastructure.
Union Minister Manohar Lal, in his address, highlighted India’s significant progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India has now emerged as the world’s third-largest operational rail network and is soon set to have the second-largest metro network globally,” he said. He also lauded the “One Nation One Card” initiative, the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), which is becoming a unified payment solution across most metro systems, marking a pivotal step for India’s urban mobility.
Tokhan Sahu, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, commended the UMI conference’s impact since its inception in 2008 and noted that India’s metro trains now exceed one crore in daily ridership. He emphasized the importance of sustainable urban mobility as part of the “Viksit Bharat 2047” vision, setting a blueprint for India’s future growth.
This year’s UMI conference recognized outstanding contributions to urban transport with 12 awards. Highlights include:
- Most Sustainable Transport System: Kochi, awarded to Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
- Best Public Transport System: Bhubaneswar, awarded to Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT).
- Best Non-Motorized Transport System: Srinagar, awarded to Srinagar Smart City Ltd.
- Best Safety and Security System: Gandhinagar, awarded to Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation.
- Best Intelligent Transport System (ITS): Surat, awarded to Surat Municipal Corporation.
- Most Innovative Financing Mechanism: Jammu, awarded to Jammu Smart City Ltd.
- Best Record of Public Involvement in Transport: Bengaluru, awarded to Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation.
- Best Multimodal Integration: Bengaluru Metro, awarded to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.
- Best Passenger Services and Satisfaction: Mumbai, awarded to Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd.
In an exciting announcement, Manohar Lal declared Gurugram, Haryana, as the venue for the 18th UMI Conference & Exhibition in 2025, continuing India’s commitment to fostering sustainable, inclusive, and innovative urban mobility solutions.
