Bhubaneswar National Urban Conclave 2026 concludes with urban reform recommendations and launch of Used Water Marketplace, UCF Portal

Key facts

• The National Urban Conclave 2026 concluded in Bhubaneswar on 25 October 2026 with actionable recommendations to strengthen urban governance, planning and service delivery towards the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
• A Used Water Marketplace under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 was launched; it is a digital platform that connects urban local bodies (ULBs) with users and investors in the treated used-water ecosystem, allowing ULBs to list treated water available for sale to industries, institutions and private entities.
• The Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) Portal was launched to enable transparent and streamlined implementation of the UCF, serving as a common digital interface for states, Union Territories, ULBs and implementing agencies for project submission, tracking, appraisal and monitoring.
• An Online Interactive Municipal Finance Data Hub was launched, providing two-way interaction for municipal finance practitioners via online discussion forums and real-time digital data on the revenue and expenditure of ULBs.
• Eighteen selected Street Food Hubs under the Prime Minister's Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme formally commenced development with the release of the first tranche of funds.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the children's book 'Swachhata Ke Superheroes' to promote swachhata, waste segregation and responsible waste management among young readers.
• CPWD Nirman, a web and mobile application for digital monitoring of CPWD projects, and CPWDway, a digital capacity building platform for government engineers, were launched, along with an internship scheme for undergraduate engineering and architecture students through the AICTE National Internship Portal.
• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) for technical cooperation in promoting the circular use of treated used water.
• Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal stated that the intent of the Conclave was to deliberate on the future challenges of cities, highlighting progress under AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and PM SVANidhi.
• NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba called for greater devolution of powers and finances to urban local bodies, citing initiatives such as the Urban Challenge Fund and City Economic Regions, and urged states to undertake structural reforms with mission funding linked to implementation.
• The Conclave's seven technical sessions covered the 'Right to Walk', 'Water, Waste and Resource Efficiency', 'Affordable Housing', 'Integrated Urban Development and Infrastructure Delivery', 'New Paradigms for Urban Service Delivery', 'Model Building Bye-Laws' and 'Model Municipal Law'.
• The session on Model Municipal Law recommended empowering Mayors with five-year tenures and defined executive powers, and revising the Model Municipal Law, 2003, through state-level consultations.