Lok Sabha Question No. 2652 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-17
Subject: Refurbishing Urban Infrastructure
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Khagen Murmu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## Lok SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2652

TO BE ANSWERED ON MARCH 17, 2022

## REFURBISHING URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

NO. 2652. SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government agrees with the view that refurbishing urban infrastructure in the larger cities is an obvious need to avoid the embodied carbon of new constructions;
- (b) if so, the steps proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE)

- (a) to (c) Urban Development is a State subject: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs assists the StateslUnion Territories(UTs) in development of urban infrastructure through its MissionsAtal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0),Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0) and Pradhan Mantri Awas YojanaUrban(PMAY-U) Details of steps taken for refurbishing urban infrastructure under the Missions are given in Annexure-I.

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Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No 2652 regarding 'Refurbishing Urban Infrastructure' for answer on 17 March, 2022.

## Details\_of Refurbishing Urban Infrastructure

## Smart Cities Mission

There are close to 4800 cities and towns in India with around 40 crore inhabitants today: At current rate of growth, urban population in India is estimated to reach 60 crore by 2030. It is projected that more than 50% of the country's population will be urban by 2050.

Rapid  urbanization comes with both   opportunities and challenges: With the   objective to effectively manage   rapid  urbanization, Government of India has taken a comprehensive approach to urban development with a multipronged structure of programs:

The Government of India had launched eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) to promote adaptation and mitigation of climate change: The National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH); one of the eight Missions, is anchored by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)NMSH aims at Promoting low-carbon urban growth towards reducing GHG emissions intensity for achieving India's NDC and Building resilience of cities to climate change impacts and strengthening their capacities to 'bounce back better' from climate related extreme events and disaster risks- The first version of NMSH released in 2010 has been revised in 2021 in the context of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under Paris Agreement, SDGs, and New Urban Agenda:

Aligning with the goals of NMSH, MoHUA has also launched Smart Cities Assessment with an objective to build climate action in cities: CSCAF serves as a tool for cities to assess their present situation and provides a roadmap for cities to adopt and implement relevant climate actions:

CSCAF consists of actions across diverse sectors and progressive and measurable indicators across 5 thematic areas Energy and Green Buildings, (ii) Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity, Mobility second round of assessment under the Framework conducted in 2020, 126 cities participated of which the results have been published in June 2021.

Further, MoHUA has set up the 'Climate Centre for Cities' within National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to support States and cities through training and capacity building activities, knowledge management, building alliances and partnerships, development of tools technology and other means.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) in as a roadmap for sustainable cooling in The ICAP prioritizes energy efficient and climate-friendly cooling in appliances,  buildings, cold chain, and transport sectors In compliance to the recommendations of India Cooling Action Plan, Town and Country Planning Organization, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs have brought out addendums to both Urban and

Regional Development Plan and Formulation Guidelines (URDPFI),2014 and Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL)-2016. Some of the co-benefits identified by the ICAP are as follows:

- Thermal comfort for all with specific focus of cooling in affordable housing projects:
- (ii) Sustainable cooling with low emissions from cooling:
- (iv)
- Augment domestic manufacturing of air conditioning and related cooling equipment:
- Robust R&D on alternative cooling technologies:

Some of the important  recommendations pertaining to construction of buildings which ought to be energy efficient buildings are:

- Enforcing efficient building envelope guidelines in the construction of commercial and residential building:
- Wider  adoption of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and Energy Conservation Building Code Residential (ECBCR) in various
- infrastructure schemes of Government-
- Awareness campaign to sensitize both the construction community and users regarding efficient buildings:
- Retrofitting and retro commissioning of existing building to reduce cooling requirement and energy consumption:

(2) Enforcing efficient building envelope guidelines in the construction of commercial and residential building:

Ministry has issued advisories to Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI), National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) requesting to comply with Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) Retrofitting and retro commissioning of existing building to reduce cooling requirement and energy consumption: AlI States and UTs have been advised to ensure retrofitting and retro commissioning of existing building which will facilitate reduction in carbon emissions-

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