Aditya Prakash Bahadur

I currently have an assignment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Expert for the State of Haryana. ADB has given a Technical Assistant (TA) to the Government of India for mainstreaming and capacity building for a PPP, and I am the Expert for Haryana. My main responsibilities include advising and assisting the Government of Haryana in the PPP processes, capacity building and procurement of projects through PPP in various physical and social infrastructures.

The key transport challenges in India include poor control of land use planning, mixed traffic with a predominance of two-wheelers, a poor driving licensing system, alongside a poor driving culture, ineffective enforcement mechanism, constraints on infrastructure and traditional lack of attention to a comprehensive transport policy.

There are some major transport initiatives underway though that include improving mobility by upgrading the National Highways under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) with an investment of around US$80 billion, improving accessibility by building Rural Roads PMGSY (Prime Ministers Rural Road Project) with an investment of around of US$30 billion, improving urban roads under the Jawarlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNRUM) with an investment of around of US$20 billion, improving public transport in cities by introduction of more buses under JNNRUM, the introduction rail-based metro services in cities such as New Delhi and Bangalore with planning for more cities, and the introduction of High Capacity Bus Services in some corridors of cities such as New Delhi.

My biggest achievements have been involved in the improvement of National Highways to enhance mobility, the development of rural connectivity and improving public transport in cities such as New Delhi with the introduction of the Metro rail system.

“Based on my thoroughly enjoyable and memorable experiences on the MSc course at ITS I would say that skills can be brought into India to look at sustainable transport planning connected to land use planning skills, the importance of safety and skills to appropriately plan and apply measures, and the practical application of theoretical concepts.”

I learnt the skill and approach of practical application of theoretical concepts and the ability to look at things in a more holistic manner rather than in a piecemeal manner. It is important to maintain a positive attitude, understand the importance of sustainability and the habit of literature consultation. If I were to give advice to other people considering a job in this country I would simply say keep your knowledge and skills updated.