The purpose of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is to ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection, increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) and reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling). All these outcomes are valued by citizens, particularly women, and indicators and standards have been prescribed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA ) in the form of Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs).

The Priority zone of the Mission is water supply followed by sewerage. However, the pursuit of better outcomes will not stop with the provision of taps and sewerage connections to all (universal coverage). Other benchmarks will be targeted following a step-by-step process after achieving the benchmark of universal coverage. Such a gradual process of achieving benchmarks is called “incrementalism”. This does not mean that other SLBs are less important, but that in the incremental process SLBs are achieved gradually according to National Priorities. In the case of urban transport the benchmark will be to reduce pollution in cities while construction and maintenance of storm water drains are expected to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, flooding in cities, thereby making cities resilient.

Earlier, the MoHUA used to give project-by-project sanctions. In the AMRUT this has been replaced by approval of the State Annual Action Plan once a year by the MoHUA and the States have to give project sanctions and approval at their end. In this way, the AMRUT makes States equal partners in planning and implementation of projects, thus actualizing the spirit of cooperative federalism. A sound institutional structure is a foundation to make Missions successful. Therefore, Capacity Building and a set of Reforms have been included in the Mission. Reforms will lead to improvement in service delivery, mobilization of resources and making municipal functioning more transparent and functionaries more accountable, while Capacity Building will empower municipal functionaries and lead to timely completion of projects.