With India's registered vehicle fleet surpassing 413 million, transport and policy experts on Monday, 8 June called for a comprehensive new urban transport framework, as the Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) formally launched a review of the country's 2006 National Urban Transport Policy in New Delhi. The review, conducted through ISPP's Centre for Urban Transitions (ICUT), concluded that the nearly two-decade-old policy's vision for public and non-motorised transport has not been matched by on-ground outcomes.

Scale of the Problem

India's vehicle fleet has grown from roughly 90 million in 2006 to over 413 million in 2025 — an addition of more than 320 million vehicles in two decades. This explosive growth has outpaced the policy architecture designed to manage it, experts noted at the launch event, which drew urban planners, transport specialists, and former government officials.

Where the 2006 Policy Fell Short

The review found that implementation of the existing policy frequently prioritised stand-alone metro rail projects that were not integrated with broader mobility networks or land-use planning. Several issues now central to urban transport — including parking management, urban freight movement, the mobility needs of smaller cities, app-based transport services, e-commerce logistics, and climate resilience — were not adequately addressed in the 2006 framework. The report recommended a new policy be enacted in 2026 to reflect these contemporary challenges.

What Experts Said

Dr Parth Shah, Dean and Co-founder of the Indian School of Public Policy, argued that India has historically treated cities as an afterthought. 'India has never really had a comprehensive urbanisation policy because we long believed that India lives in its villages, and cities were often treated as an afterthought,' he said, adding that many problems the 2006 policy targeted have worsened due to the absence of coherent urban governance.

BVR Subrahmanyam, former CEO of NITI Aayog, stressed that India's economic growth will increasingly be driven by its cities. 'The next generation of policy must embed urban transport within a broader urbanisation framework that plans for growth, manages congestion and creates more liveable cities,' he said.

Sanjiv Sahai, former Managing Director of DIMTS and former Secretary of the Ministry of Power, pointed to the fundamental behavioural challenge: 'If public transport and walking remain inconvenient, people will continue to prefer private vehicles. The future of urban mobility lies in making public transport easier, more accessible and more reliable.'

Why a 2026 Policy Matters

India's urban population is projected to cross 600 million by 2036, according to government estimates, making the current policy vacuum increasingly costly. The review's recommendation for a 2026 policy comes at a time when cities are grappling with worsening air quality, chronic congestion, and rising road fatalities — all compounded by a vehicle fleet growing at a pace that public infrastructure has consistently failed to match. Notably, this is the first structured review of the 2006 policy to be undertaken by a major public policy institution, lending it added weight in ongoing policy conversations.

What Comes Next

The ISPP review is expected to feed into consultations with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and state governments. Industry bodies and urban planners have signalled support for a framework that integrates transit-oriented development, first-and-last-mile connectivity, and freight logistics into a single national vision. Whether the Centre moves to formalise a new policy before the 2026 deadline the review proposes remains to be seen.