The aerial lift in India, also known as ropeways or cableways in India, consists of various Cable transport systems such as Aerial tramway, Chairlift, Gondola lift and Material ropeway where cabins, open chairs or containers are hauled above the ground with the help of cables. With 30% of India being mountainous, aerial lifts offer an efficient mode of connectivity in these terrains where roads and railways are otherwise difficult to build.
While historically restricted to hill stations and pilgrimage sites, under the Indian government's Parvatmala Scheme (), India envisages spending in publicâÂÂprivate partnership (PPP) mode over five years till 2030 to build 200 new ropeway projects of more than 1200 km length, to decongest the traffic on the narrow roads of big cities where implementation of other modes would pose challenges, in addition to mountainous locations. This article also contains a list of glass bridge skywalks in tourist locations.
Darjeeling Ropeway in West Bengal was India's first ropeway opened in 1968. Rajgir Ropeway in Bihar, a 333m-long chairlift ropeway built in the 1960s, is India's first chairlift ropeway. As of 2024, the 4 km-long Auli Ropeway in Uttarakhand is India's longest and the world's second-longest (single section) ropeway behind Vietnam's 7,899.9 m long Hòn Thám cable car, and when completed the under-construction 5.5 km-long Mussoorie-Dehradun Ropeway will be the longest in India. Kashi ropeway is India's first urban ropeway, and world's third urban public transport ropeway behind Bolivia's Mi Teleférico opened in 2014 and Mexico City's Mexicable opened in 2021.
As of 2025, all 36 states and union territories (UT) of India have either existing or planned ropeways, except in the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
The first aerial lifts in India were being built during the 1960s and 1970s, primarily in hill stations and religious sites. Notably, the Darjeeling ropeway was the first modern ropeway built in India. A chairlift ropeway was then built at Rajgir Hills, Bihar as a 'gift' to the Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir by the famous Japanese Buddhist monk Fuji Guruji (Nichidatsu Fujii). Political activist Jai Prakash Narayan was the first person to take the ropeway ride.
Since the 2000s, state governments and private operators have developed several ropeways with modern cabins, automated drive systems and higher safety standards. With the announcement of Parvatmala Pariyojana in 2022, the importance and popularity of ropeways has increased. The project was aimed at creating sustainable ropeway infrastructures in both mountainous and urban regions under a PublicâÂÂprivate partnership (PPP) model.
Indian aerial lifts use a range of technologies depending on terrain, needs and passenger volume. Cabins on modern systems are typically closed, climate resilient and equipped with CCTV surveillance, emergency communication and automated braking systems.
Aerial lift projects in India are regulated by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and implemented by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) under its National Highway Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), which oversees new projects under Parvatmala Pariyojana. The new ropeways are being aligned with Make in India initiative, which mandates at least 50% of indigenous components in construction.
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This is a list of glass bridges in India, by state.