AMRUT

Also called: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation · Topic: Urban Local Government: Municipalities and Cities · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) is a Central urban mission launched on 25 June 2015 for 500 cities. It pays for basic city services such as water supply, sewerage, storm-water drains and green spaces, and it asks cities to carry out reforms in return. Its second phase, AMRUT 2.0 (from 1 October 2021), aims to bring tap water to all statutory towns and full sewerage to the 500 AMRUT cities. [2][3]

It matters because AMRUT came after JNNURM and changed how the Centre funds cities. The states now plan and approve projects, and the targets are services delivered, such as tap and sewer connections. This makes AMRUT a key example in the debate on Central missions and the self-government of urban local bodies (ULBs).

Explanation

How AMRUT 1.0 works (2015)

• Launch: 25 June 2015. Smart Cities Mission and PMAY-U were launched on the same day.
• Coverage: 500 cities.
• Thrust areas (the main kinds of work it pays for):
• water supply;
• sewerage and septage (septage is the waste collected from septic tanks);
• storm-water drains, which carry rainwater away and reduce flooding;
• non-motorised urban transport, such as footpaths and cycle tracks;

• green spaces and parks.

• Reforms attached: cities had to carry out reforms to get the money.

• One example is getting municipal credit ratings. These are scores that show how fit a ULB is to borrow money, for example by selling municipal bonds.

The big change from JNNURM: the states plan

• Under JNNURM: the Centre approved each project separately.
• Under AMRUT: each state makes one State Annual Action Plan.
• The Centre approves the plan as a whole.

• The state then sanctions (approves) the individual projects itself.

• Result: the states got more control and the process became faster. But the Centre still sets the goals and attaches the conditions.

AMRUT 2.0 (2021-26): "Water Secure" cities

• Launch: 1 October 2021, on the same day as SBM-U 2.0. [2]
• Period: FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26. [2][3]
• Two goals with different coverage:
• Universal tap water in all statutory towns. A statutory town is a town that has a legally notified ULB. This means about 2.68 crore tap connections in around 4,700 ULBs. [3]

• 100% sewerage and septage coverage, but only in the 500 AMRUT cities. This means about 2.64 crore sewer connections. [3]

• Money:

• Total outlay of ₹2,77,000 crore, which includes a Central share of ₹76,760 crore. [4]

• Other PIB releases give about ₹2.87 lakh crore. [2]

• Slogan: AMRUT 2.0 aims at "Water Secure" cities. SBM-U 2.0 aims at "Garbage Free" cities. [2]

Limits

• Delivery through state-level agencies: projects are often run by state bodies, not by the elected municipal council.
• Assets need upkeep: pipes and sewer lines need ULBs with enough staff and their own revenue. Without these, new assets may not be maintained.
• Coverage gap: sewerage is promised only in 500 cities. Smaller towns get tap water under AMRUT 2.0, while SBM-U 2.0 handles their used water. [2]

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base:
• The 74th Amendment Act, 1992 came into force on 1 June 1993. It added Part IXA ("The Municipalities") and gave ULBs constitutional status. [1]
• Article 243W and the Twelfth Schedule: the Twelfth Schedule lists 18 subjects that states may hand over to municipalities. Water supply and urban planning are among them.

• The transfer was optional. So many states kept water supply with parastatals, which are state-run agencies (such as water boards) that do not answer to the elected council.

• AMRUT is a scheme, not a law: it is a Centrally sponsored mission run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). It is not created by any Act of Parliament.

• The path that led to it:
• JNNURM (launched 3 December 2005) covered 65 mission cities. [1]
• JNNURM tied Central money to reforms, such as implementing the 74th Amendment.
• The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General, India's top auditor, under Article 148) audited JNNURM in Report No. 15 of 2012-13. [1] Commonly reported findings: delays, reforms done only partly, and parastatals running projects.

• AMRUT (2015) replaced project-by-project Central approval with State Annual Action Plans.

• In practice: AMRUT 2.0 moved to outcome targets, meaning numbers of tap and sewer connections rather than just building projects. [3]

Don't confuse with

• JNNURM (2005–2014): 65 mission cities, with project-wise Central approval. AMRUT covers 500 cities, and states sanction projects through a State Annual Action Plan.
• Smart Cities Mission (2015): launched on the same day, but 100 cities were chosen by competition. Projects were run by an SPV (a company under the Companies Act, 2013), and the mission ended on 31 March 2025. AMRUT cities were not chosen by competition, and AMRUT works through state plans.
• SBM-U 2.0 (2021): launched on the same day as AMRUT 2.0. SBM-U 2.0 aims at "Garbage Free" cities, while AMRUT 2.0 aims at "Water Secure" cities. SBM-U 2.0 manages grey water and black water in cities not covered by AMRUT. [2]
• Statutory town vs. AMRUT city: under AMRUT 2.0, tap water goes to all statutory towns (about 4,700 ULBs), but full sewerage only to the 500 AMRUT cities. [3]

Prelims Hooks

• AMRUT, the Smart Cities Mission and PMAY-U were all launched on 25 June 2015. AMRUT covered 500 cities.
• AMRUT 2.0 and SBM-U 2.0 were both launched on 1 October 2021. AMRUT 2.0 runs from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26. [2][3]
• Trap: universal tap water covers all statutory towns (about 2.68 crore connections in about 4,700 ULBs). 100% sewerage covers only the 500 AMRUT cities (about 2.64 crore connections). [3]
• AMRUT 2.0 outlay is ₹2,77,000 crore, with a Central share of ₹76,760 crore. [4]
• Under AMRUT, the state sanctions projects through a State Annual Action Plan. Under JNNURM, the Centre approved each project.
• Municipal credit ratings were an AMRUT reform. Green spaces and parks were one of its thrust areas.

Mains Points

• Conditional money as a push for decentralisation:
• AMRUT, like JNNURM, used Central funds to push reforms such as credit ratings and better municipal finances.
• But reforms bought with conditions often stay on paper, as the CAG found for JNNURM. [1]

• Lasting change needs states to transfer the 3Fs (funds, functions, functionaries) to ULBs under Article 243W, especially water supply from the Twelfth Schedule.

• State plans vs. city self-government:

• The State Annual Action Plan gave states, not ULBs, the power to sanction projects.
• This is faster than Central approval, but elected councils may still only carry out plans that others made.

• Reform: let ULBs prepare their own plans and give them real control over water utilities instead of parastatals.

• From building assets to delivering services:

• AMRUT 2.0 measures success in tap and sewer connections. [3]
• Such outcomes last only if ULBs have the capacity and their own revenue to run and repair the networks. Otherwise, the new pipes may break down because no one maintains them.

Related concepts

• JNNURM
• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban
• Smart Cities Mission
• PMAY-Urban
• Street Vendors Act 2014

Read more

• Urban missions: JNNURM to AMRUT, Smart Cities, SBM-U and PMAY-U