The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is a flagship scheme of the Government of India, launched in June 2015 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). It was created to address the critical problem of inadequate basic urban infrastructure, aiming to improve the quality of life for residents, especially the poor and disadvantaged. The original mission, sometimes referred to as AMRUT 1.0, was the first focused national water mission.
The scheme works by focusing on five key thrust areas in 500 selected cities and towns: Water Supply, Sewerage and Septage Management, Storm Water Drainage, Non-motorized Urban Transport, and Green Spaces/Parks. Its primary objective is to ensure every household has access to a tap with an assured supply of water and a sewerage connection. The mission also includes a reform agenda and capacity building to improve service delivery and resource mobilization, actualizing the spirit of cooperative federalism by making States equal partners in planning and implementation. AMRUT connects to other national initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The scheme has changed significantly with the launch of AMRUT 2.0 on October 1, 2021, which subsumed the original mission and is planned to run until the financial year 2025-26. AMRUT 2.0 targets universal coverage of water supply by providing household tap connections in all 4,378 statutory towns. A major change is that the urban transport component was excluded from the scope of AMRUT 2.0, which instead focuses on making cities "water secure" and "self-sustainable" through the circular economy of water, including the recycling and reuse of treated sewage.