Expert interview on public mobility in India

With over 1.4 billion inhabitants, India has just become the most populous country in the world. How do so many people commute and travel, now and in the future?

Mayank Mittal , Head of KfW IPEX-Bank ’s Representative Office in Mumbai, talks about public mobility in India, pointing out major challenges and opportunities.?

Mayank, how would you describe the status of public mobility in India?

Public mobility in India is very topical and needs a lot of attention, especially due to increasing urbanisation. In the last decade, India added almost five percentage points to its degree of urbanisation which currently stands at close to 37%. It is expected that by 2050, more than 800 million Indians will live in cities.

The current public mobility solutions are unable to address the mobility needs: Most cities are currently served by an intra-city bus network which is inadequate and inefficient for the size of the cities. Metro lines are being planned and built in cities which have a population of at least 1 million inhabitants. As of today, a total of 945 kilometres metro rail and regional rapid transit system is operational in 17 cities. ?

Intercity and Inter-state travel is largely addressed by the wide network of Indian Railways (IR). IR completes more than 7 billion passenger journeys per year and is the primary public solution for a large part of the population.

In your opinion, what are the most important measures to develop public mobility in India further towards a convenient, safe, affordable and sustainable mode of transport?

India would need comprehensive mobility solutions to decongest its cities. For many years now, the focus has been to improve road connectivity. However, this approach comes with its own limitations, especially given that the vehicular traffic is largely based on conventional fuel and may not be the most sustainable approach.

The current mobility solutions for most parts of the country are inefficient and inadequate, which leads to propensity towards private vehicle ownership. Investments in metro network, especially for megacities, light rail or metrolite systems for tier 2 cities augmented by a well-planned bus network is need of the hour. In this context, an additional network of 939 kilometres of metro rail and rapid transport is under construction in 27 cities.

In parallel, integration and decarbonatisation of public mobility must be kept in mind, so that the solutions are not just convenient and affordable, but also sustainable in nature.

What kind of obstacles do you think might need to be overcome in that process and by which means?

Budgetary constraint is one of the biggest obstacles towards investments in building infrastructure for public transportation. While the cost for building metro network is roughly the same for India as it is in Europe, fare box revenues are only a fraction when compared to developed markets.

Innovative financing solutions and participation of the private sector would be the key.

Another challenge in India has been that various mobility solutions are managed and operated by different operators within the city. To ensure multi-modal transport and a seamless integration, it would be imperative to have a one common operator. The presence of a single authority/operator ensures that mobility service can be delivered in a more efficient manner.

German and European manufacturers have been exporting vehicles for public transport to India for a long time. How does your team in Mumbai as well as the colleagues in KfW IPEX-Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt provide support to the exporters?

Indeed, we see a strong presence of German and European manufactures in India. The conventional Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coaches are gradually making way for the advanced Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches. LHB coaches have been in use since the year 2000 and more than 23,000 conventional coaches have been successfully replaced by their LHB counterpart.

European companies have been delivering rolling stock for metro projects, apart from ‘signaling and communication’ solutions for both rail and metro networks.

KfW IPEX-Bank can provide ‘long term export finance’ solutions for such deliveries. Export finance solutions are available for both equipment, as well as services. Such financings benefit from an ‘export cover’ from the respective ECAs (Export Credit Agencies) and allow for competitive financings for substantially longer tenors (15 years +) than conventional means of financing. ?Given the focus on localisation, a material portion of local content can also be financed under such structures.

You are invited to get in touch with Mayank Mittal and talk about public mobility in India!