The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2006 formulated by the central government envisages setting up of unified metropolitan transport agency (UMTA) in all million plus cities.

The cente has asked the respective state governments to establish unified transport bodies in the cities of Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Puri, Bhubaneshwar and Kohima, minister of state for urban development Saugata Roy informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Setting up of a unified metropolitan transport authority for million plus cities is one of the reform conditions for sanction of buses for urban transport under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Mission (JNNURM), he said,.

The minister said so far no city or sate has sought any funding from the centre.

Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) the centre aims at sustainable urban transport projects through planning and capacity building.

The sustainable urban transport project, estimated to cost Rs1439.01 crore, has also involves a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as also loan from the World Bank to the cities through the concerned state governments as well as central assistance.

The sustainable urban transport project aims to strengthen capacity of the central and state governments as also cities in planning, financing, operating and managing sustainable urban transport systems.

It also assists participating states and cities in preparing and implementing demonstration `Green Transport' projects (GT projects).

The project currently covers cities such as Indore, Mysore, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune and Naya Raipur. More cities are expected to join the project in future on 'moving train' concept.

The sustainable urban transport project was formally launched on 9 June 2010 and is in the initial stage of implementation and therefore, the question of non-utilization of funds for this project under the JNNURM does not arise at present, the minister added.