22 Smart Cities to be completed by April

NEW DELHI: 22 Smart Cities under the Government of India’s ambitious urban development scheme, ‘Smart Cities Mission,’ will complete all projects by April 2023. Out of 100 cities across the country, these 22 Smart Cities aim to promote cities that provide a clean and sustainable environment and decent quality of life through ‘smart solutions’.

Bhopal, Agra, Varanasi, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Chennai, Erode, Ranchi, Salem, Udaipur, Surat, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad, Kakinada, Pune, Vellore, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Madurai, Amaravati, Tiruchirappalli, and Thanjavur are the 22 smart cities to be completed next month.

A senior official of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, said that the remaining 78 selected cities under the mission will be completed in the next three-four months.  He also mentioned that work has been progressing steadily and features like smart transportation systems, state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology, and renewable energy solutions will be installed. “We will complete 22 smart cities by March as projects in these cities are in the final stages. In the next three-four months, we will be completing the project works of the remaining cities,” he said.

Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, informed the Rajya Sabha that as on January 27, 2023, out of 7,804 projects amounting to ₹1,81,322 crore for which work orders have been issued in the 100 Smart Cities, 5,246 projects worth ₹98,796 crore have been completed. The central government has released ₹36,447 crore for the mission wherein ₹32,095 crore (88 per cent) has been already spent.

According to the guidelines of the mission, the central government will provide financial support of ₹48,000 crore over five years, on an average of ₹100 crore per city per year. The ministry also informed that there is no such proposal in consideration of the government to add more cities under this mission.