The Urban Mobility India ( UMI ) Conference cum Exhibition was initiated by the erstwhile Ministry of Urban Development now Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India in 2008 to provide a platform for churning out thoughts / ideas, promoting best practices across India and in different parts of the world to carve out the way forward for improving urban mobility in the country. So far, 15 events of this conference have been held successfully as given below :
| Year | Theme | Venue |
|---|
| 2008 | Urban Mobility | Pragati Maidan, New Delhi |
| 2009 | Sustainable Urban Transport | India Habitat Center, New Delhi |
| 2010 | Sustainable Cities | Hotel Grand, New Delhi |
| 2011 | Sustainable Mobility | Manekshaw Center, New Delhi |
| 2012 | Smart Cities | Manekshaw Center, New Delhi |
| 2013 | Transforming Cities with Transportation, | Manekshaw Center, New Delhi |
| 2014 | Sustainable Transport for Sustainable Cities | Manekshaw Center, New Delhi |
| 2015 | Transforming Mobility for Liveability | Manekshaw Center, New Delhi |
| 2016 | Planning Mobility for City's Sustainability | Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat |
| 2017 | Intelligent, Inclusive & Sustainable Mobility | Hyderabad International Convention Centre ( HICC ), Telangana |
| 2018 | Green Urban Mobility | Chitnavis Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra |
| 2019 | Accessible and Liveable Cities | Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| 2020 | Emerging Trends in Urban Mobility | Online - Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, New Delhi |
| 2021 | Mobility for All | Online & Hybrid - Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi |
| 2022 | Azadi@75 : Sustainable AatmaNirbhar Urban Mobility | The Grand Hyatt Bolgatty Kochi. |
The 15th UMI Conference cum Exhibition 2022 was held during 4th to 6th November, 2022 in the picturesque city of Kochi at the Hotel Grand Hyatt Bolgatty by MoHUA in collaboration with Govt. of Kerala with focus on the theme “Azadi @75 Sustainable AatmaNirbhar Urban Mobility”. It was structured into 2 Plenary Sessions, one Conclave, 10 Technical Sessions and 5 Round Table Discussions. Theme based specific urban transport issues were deliberated on climate change and its impact on urban transport, planning for bus based public transport, Gati Shakti Master plan - the role of cities, sustainable PPP in bus transport, gender inclusive mobility, smart mobility solutions and mobility as a service, common issues of Indian Metro System, transit oriented development, future fuels, multimodal integration, ecosystem to accelerate shift to public transport, urban mobility –vision 2047, vocal for local in sustainable urban mobility, urban transport start-ups, integrating urban and transport planning, collaboration between government and E.V. technology, street for all, etc. About 1,200 participates, including high level officials from central and state governments, city and metro authorities, national and international agencies from the field, academic and professional participated in the three day conference and shared their experience and best practices in the cities across the globe. All the sessions had presentations from eminent experts in the field and revolved around live case studies both national and international. The sessions were lively and interactive.
The exhibition, a special feature of the UMI conference to disseminate and showcase the latest developments in urban transport technology, system and service, best transport projects and propagation of innovative ideas, was inaugurated by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas, Govt. of India. The latest technologies, urban transport start-ups, metro rail projects in operation, Kerala rail project, Kochi water metro, intelligent transport system etc. were of special interest to the delegates and visitors. Among others, Shri Arif Mohammad Khan, Hon’ble Governor of Kerala, Shri Kaushal Kishore, Hon’ble Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India, Adv. Antony Raju, Hon’ble Minister of Transport, Govt. of Kerala also visited the exhibition
The Conference was jointly inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan (Online) and Hon’ble Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. Keynote address was given by Shri Elias George, National Head, Govt. and Public Service, KPMG. Secretary Transport Govt. of Kerala, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Corp. Ltd. and other dignitaries also graced the inaugural session and enlightened the august gathering on the theme “ Azadi @ 75 Sustainable AtmaNirbhar Urban Mobility.
In the inaugural session, a short video film and following publications were also released:
- Short film on “Sustainable AatmaNirbhar Urban Mobility”
- GATI Dashboard on Urban Transport
- Kerala open mobility network launch
- Green Urban Mobility Program (GUMP) Newsletter
- Report- E-Auto electrification programme on Kochi
- Report- India’s Electric Vehicle Transition: Managing fuel tax
The conference concluded with the valedictory session organized on 6.11.2022 in the presence of the chief guest, Shri Arif Mohammad Khan, Hon’ble Governor of Kerala. Shri Kaushal Kishore, Hon’ble Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India delivered the valedictory address. Adv. Antony Raju, Hon’ble Minister for Transport, Govt. of Kerala also graced the occasion. The highlight of the session was the awards given for 12 best practices/ excellence in Urban Transport to the best performing States/ UTs and cities in different categories recommended by a Committee constituted by MoHUA. Awards were also given to best exhibitors, as well as for best research papers presented by the Researchers in the Research Symposium held during the UMI Conference cum Exhibition. The conference concluded with launch of the 16th UMI Conference cum Exhibition – 2023 to be held from 27th to 29th October, 2023 in Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on the theme “Integrated and Resilient Urban Transport” and vote of thanks by Shri Jadeep, OSD (UT) E.O. Joint Secretary, MoHUA and Acting Director General of IUT.