India, April 20 -- Every morning thousands of office-goers in Bengaluru's Gandhinagar and Infantry Road circle blocks go around for 20-30 minutes hunting for parking, even as the Rs.80-crore Freedom Park Multi-Level Car Parking nearby stands mostly empty.

In Delhi, the situation is no different. A 2025 Jamia Millia Islamia study found motorists in Delhi waste an average of 20 minutes daily searching for parking --- fuel, time and often temper lost before the workday even begins.

This pattern repeats across cities in India: expensive multi-level car parking (MLCP) towers stand half-empty while nearby streets remain choked with vehicles.

Over the past decade, India has invested hundreds of crores in MLCPs under the Smart Cities Mission, ...