As Orissadiary.com reports, the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD), the Government of Odisha and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), are jointly creating a Low-Carbon Mobility Plan (LCMP) for the city of Bhubaneswar, to develop and monitor its urban transport sector. This measure has become necessary as the rapidly growing capital of the state of Odisha (till 2011 named Orissa) is expected to double its population of estimated 1 million in the next 20 years.

The statistics from Bhubaneswar’s transport sector indicate that more than 80 per cent of users depend upon private vehicles for commuting, [so] there needs to be a careful planning to cope with the rapid growth in travel demand needs. […]
[The Low-Carbon Mobility Plan will guide] the city’s development so that, despite of an increase in travel over time (in terms of the total number of passenger kilometers traveled), energy consumption and emissions are reduced, public spaces are preserved, and the city offers a safer and better quality of life for its residents.

Orissadiary.com

The plan is part of India’s 100 Smart Cities Mission, more precisely the “ClimateSMART Cities Assessment Framework“. The objective of this framework is to provide a clear roadmap for the cities towards combating Climate Change while planning their actions within the city – including investments.

The LCMP aims for a holistic approach to planning and implementing urban transport projects in Bhubaneswar and will provide a 20-year vision with goals and targets updated every five years from 2019 to 2040.

German support for three Indian Smart Cities

In December 2018 an Indo-German urbanization partnership between the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) and the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs was launched to support three Indian cities in becoming sustainable Smart Cities: Coimbatore, Kochi and Bhubaneswar. The project, which the Low-Carbon Mobility Plan (LCMP) is part of, will be implemented over the next few years by GIZ and the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), with € 4.7 million in funding.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable developmentoperating worldwide. The private company was founded in 1975, is owned by the German Federal Government, and operates on a public benefit basis.

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Learn more:

• Odisha Govt in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH announces Low Carbon Mobility Plan for Bhubaneswar. [Orissadiary.com, 23.09.2019]
• Website of the Federal Ministery for Economic Cooperation and Development, here: Indo-German Development Cooperation.
• Press release “Indo-German urbanization partnership begins”. [14.12.2018]
• ClimateSMART Cities Assessment Framework