AMRUT Yojna: Transforming Urban India for a Better Tomorrow
Urban development is often the difference between a family having a reliable water tap at home or spending hours queuing for a tanker. It’s about whether a child has a safe, green park to play in or only a congested street.
The AMRUT Yojna was launched to bridge this gap, turning our overstretched cities into places where people can actually breathe and thrive. It began with a focus on 500 cities, but with the rollout of AMRUT 2.0, the mission has expanded to reach every urban corner of India. By combining significant financial backing with smart, real-time technology, the initiative is moving us toward a future where clean water, efficient sanitation, and sustainable living are becoming the standard for every urban citizen.
What is AMRUT Yojna?
Launched in June 2015, AMRUT aims to make urban areas more liveable, sustainable, and efficient by providing basic services such as:
- Reliable water supply to every household.
- Sewerage and septage management for sanitation.
- Efficient urban transport systems to reduce pollution and traffic congestion.
- Development of green spaces and parks to enhance the urban environment.
This initiative succeeded the earlier Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which was designed to drive urban renewal and improve infrastructure in cities across India. While JNNURM laid the foundation for urban development projects, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) introduced a more targeted approach, prioritizing essential services like water supply and sanitation. Unlike its predecessor, AMRUT emphasizes measurable outcomes and citizen-centric solutions, ensuring that every urban household has access to clean drinking water, modern sanitation facilities, and improved urban infrastructure.
Why Was AMRUT Introduced?
India’s urban population has been growing rapidly, creating immense pressure on cities to deliver essential services. Poor infrastructure in many cities led to a lack of clean drinking water, inadequate sanitation facilities, and deteriorating public spaces. To address these issues, the Government of India launched AMRUT to:
- Provide universal access to drinking water in cities.
- Enhance sewerage and drainage systems to reduce waterlogging and pollution.
- Promote green and open spaces for recreational purposes.
- Improve public transportation and pedestrian-friendly roads.
By focusing on infrastructure improvements, AMRUT seeks to create sustainable urban environments that can support India’s long-term growth.
How Many Cities Are Covered Under AMRUT?
In its first phase, AMRUT covered 500 cities, selected based on population, state capitals, and cities of heritage, tourism, or religious significance. The focus was on water supply systems and urban sewage infrastructure.
AMRUT 2.0: Scaling Up Urban Rejuvenation
Building on the success of Phase 1, AMRUT 2.0 was launched in October 2021 to further expand the mission’s impact. The goal of Phase 2 is to reach all urban local bodies (ULBs), including smaller towns, with a sharper focus on sustainability and water conservation.
Key Objectives of AMRUT 2.0
- 100% water supply coverage: Ensuring that every household in urban areas has access to reliable drinking water through tap connections.
- Sewage and wastewater treatment: Strengthening sewage systems and building new treatment plants to handle the rising levels of urban wastewater.
- Rejuvenation of water bodies: Focus on restoring lakes, ponds, and other water bodies to improve water availability and quality.
- Sustainable urban planning: Encouraging rainwater harvesting, urban forests, and other green initiatives.
Budget and Financial Commitment
When AMRUT was first launched, the Government of India allocated ₹50,000 crore to be spent over five years, covering essential urban infrastructure projects. This initial budget was focused on water supply, sewage treatment, and urban green space creation.
The budget for AMRUT 2.0 has been significantly increased to ₹2.87 lakh crore, up from the ₹50,000 crore allocated for the first phase. This increased financial commitment reflects the government’s focus on sustainable water management and the holistic urban transformation required to make cities more livable.
Expanded Coverage in AMRUT 2.0
Unlike Phase 1, which focused on 500 larger cities, AMRUT 2.0 aims to cover over 4,700 urban local bodies (ULBs), including smaller towns that were not part of the initial phase. Some of the key cities being targeted for infrastructure development include:
- Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)
- Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
- Surat (Gujarat)
- Jaipur (Rajasthan)
- Nagpur (Maharashtra)
Discover CIMCON’s Impact on the Success of Amrut Yojna
Infrastructure is only as effective as its management. Thousands of kilometers of pipelines can be laid, but its efficacy remains in getting leaks or a pump failure in real-time, keeping the system from failing the citizens. This is where CIMCON transforms the mission from basic plumbing to Smart Water Management.
By integrating IoT-based automation, CIMCON provides the eyes and ears for municipalities. In cities like Varanasi, Surat, and Ayodhya, this technology’s impact lies well beyond monitoring, as it protects with:
- Predictive Maintenance: Instead of waiting for a pump to break and leaving a neighborhood dry for days, sensors alert engineers before a failure occurs.
- Leakage Detection: In a country where “Non-Revenue Water” (water lost to leaks) can be as high as 40%, CIMCON’s data analytics help plug the holes, saving millions of liters daily.
- Equal Distribution: Smart sensors ensure that the “tail-end” households—those furthest from the water tank—receive the same water pressure as those right next to it.
Local Impact, National Scale
In Uttar Pradesh alone, across cities like Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Urai, Ayodhya, Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Kharuja, and Shikohabad, CIMCON’s automation has moved the needle from guesswork to precision. With its comprehensive solutions, CIMCON is offering fresh and safe water for millions of people who now have the peace of mind that when they turn on the tap, the water will be there.
These cities have implemented CIMCON’s IoT-based automation solutions to optimize water distribution, reduce water wastage, and ensure efficient maintenance of pumps. The data above reflects the number of pumps installed, the amount of water delivered per day, and the approximate population benefiting from these solutions.
Conclusion
The AMRUT Yojna is a transformative initiative that has significantly improved the quality of life in urban areas by focusing on essential services like water, sanitation, and transport. With the expansion under AMRUT 2.0 and the integration of CIMCON’s smart water solutions, India’s cities are becoming more sustainable and livable, paving the way for a brighter urban future. CIMCON‘s role in providing innovative water management technologies has enhanced the mission’s objectives, ensuring reliable water distribution and contributing to urban sustainability.