Increasing transportation demand in India has led to a phenomenal growth in the number of vehicles and a consequent increase in fuel consumption and environmental pollution. The transport sector accounts for about 10 percent of the total CO2 emitted in the country. Road transport is the main source of CO2 emissions and accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total transport sector emissions in 1994 (India’s National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, submitted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, 2004). This study will carry out a detailed analysis of various technologies as well as management options that would lead to mitigation of GHGs and other toxic and harmful emissions from the transportation sector in five Indian metropolitan cities, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai.

The major activities include:

1. Assessment of urban transport energy demand and estimation of GHG and other toxic pollutants from the transport sector in the five Indian metropolitan cities
2. Identification of various mitigation options such as improving vehicular efficiency, switching to cleaner fuels, improving transportation infrastructure, switching to alternative modes of transportation, etc, which result in reduction of GHG emissions and assessment of mitigation potential and cost effectiveness of the identified options
3. Construction of mitigation scenarios that would integrate multiple mitigation options through penetration of environment-friendly technologies/measures in order to reach a specified target of reduced GHG and local pollution levels. Also includes determining cost implications for the above scenarios as well as cost per unit of GHG reduction, and
4. Identifying and examining alternative options in the transport sector which can qualify as CDM projects and be eligible for trading under EU ETS.