Technical Support to GIZ India, Urban Mobility & Circular Economy (DKTI)

Year: 2021–2023  |  Client: GIZ (DKTI / BMZ, Germany)  |  Country: India

Cities Forum provided technical support to GIZ India on urban mobility and circular economy under the German Climate and Technology Initiative (DKTI) of Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). As India accelerates its shift to sustainable transport, German development cooperation has been a key partner in that journey, and Cities Forum's assignment strengthened GIZ's ability to deliver targeted, high-quality technical assistance on electric mobility and sustainable transport across Indian cities.

Our approach

The support spanned a coherent set of activities aimed at building both knowledge and capability. Cities Forum provided EV and e-bus advisory, bringing specialist expertise on electric-vehicle and electric-bus adoption to Indian counterparts grappling with technology choices, business models and deployment challenges. It developed training modules that packaged this expertise into transferable learning, and led stakeholder engagement and outreach to connect the many actors, public authorities, operators, manufacturers and financiers, whose alignment is essential to any successful mobility transition. Underpinning all of this was a sustained emphasis on capacity building, equipping local institutions with the skills and tools to carry the work forward beyond the life of the assignment.

What we delivered

The inclusion of the circular economy alongside urban mobility reflects a forward-looking framing: the transition to electric and sustainable transport raises important questions about batteries, materials and end-of-life management, and integrating circular-economy thinking helps ensure that the shift to cleaner mobility is sustainable in the fullest sense. Cities Forum's support helped GIZ address these dimensions together rather than in isolation.

Impact

By reinforcing GIZ India's technical capacity on sustainable transport and electric mobility, Cities Forum contributed to the effectiveness of German–Indian cooperation on one of the country's defining challenges. The engagement deepened the firm's long-standing relationship with GIZ, complemented its other Indian assignments, and reflected a recurring strength: supporting development partners not only with one-off analysis but with advisory, training, engagement and capacity-building that leave lasting capability behind.