Regional Meeting of Urban Development Ministers of Southern States and UTs Held in Bengaluru

BENGALURU, October 30, 2025:The first Regional Meeting of Urban Development Ministers of Southern States and Union Territories was held today in Bengaluru under the chairmanship of Manohar Lal, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The meeting marks the beginning of a series of regional consultations following the National Meeting of Urban Development Ministers held in New Delhi on July 17, 2025.

The Bengaluru meeting was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, and the Urban Development Department, Government of Karnataka. It brought together ministers and senior officials from the southern States and Union Territories to deliberate on key issues, challenges, and opportunities in the urban development sector and to chart a collective roadmap for reform.

Among the dignitaries present were D.K. Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister in charge of Bengaluru City Development; Suresha B.S., Minister for Urban Development and Town Planning, Karnataka; Rahim Khan, Minister of Municipal Administration; M.B. Rajesh, Minister for Local Self Governments, Excise & Parliamentary Affairs, Kerala; and P.R.N. Thirumurugan, Minister of Housing, Puducherry. Senior officials from the participating State governments and Union Territories also attended, along with the Secretary, Additional Secretary, and Joint Secretary of MoHUA, and the Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs.

The deliberations were held in two sessions — the first focused on Bengaluru’s urban priorities, while the second reviewed the implementation and progress of key central schemes such as the Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Metro projects, and the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme.

Manohar Lal reviewed state-wise progress, discussed implementation bottlenecks, and encouraged States to adopt data-driven urban planning and citizen-centric innovations. The State Ministers commended MoHUA for proactively engaging regional stakeholders and initiating regular consultations, including field visits and virtual follow-ups to monitor mission outcomes.

MoHUA announced that such regional meetings will continue across other parts of the country to foster peer learning, identify shared challenges, and design localized reform pathways.

All participating States were also invited to the National Urban Conclave, to be held on November 8–9, 2025, at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, where insights from regional meetings will help shape a collective roadmap for urban transformation under Viksit Bharat @2047.