The National Smart Cities Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year 2015. The Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission is a programme for urban redevelopment and retrofitting that aims to create smart cities that are both livable and sustainable. The good news is that about 22 cities under this mission are all set to be ready by March 2023. Here is a list of these cities.
Cities Under National Smart Cities Mission
Among all the 100 cities selected under the National Smart Cities Mission, 22 cities will be completed by March 2023. The cities that will mark completion are Bhopal, Agra, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Ranchi, Surat, Visakhapatnam, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Amravati, Thanjavur, Indore, Varanasi, Chennai, Erode, Salem, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Vellore, Kakinad, Madurai, and Tiruchirapalli.
The main goal of this mission is to give all the citizens a better quality, decent life and a sustainable environment. This will be done by providing them with core infrastructure and bringing smart solutions to various issues. The cities were selected through four rounds of competitions that were held from January 2016 to June 2018. The other 78 remaining cities will be completed in the next 3–4 months, as the projects are still in process.
“Smart Lighting Poles” have been installed across Bhopal under the Smart Cities Mission.#TransformingUrbanLandscape #TransformingIndia pic.twitter.com/MDU7rAcYHI
— Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (@MoHUA_India) June 28, 2019
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The State Government Too Contributes An Amount Towards The Mission
On February 6, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore updated the Rajya Sabha on the status of the project. He informed them that out of 7,804 projects worth ₹1,81,322 crore, 5,246 projects worth ₹98,796 crores had already been completed by January 27 under the Smart Cities Mission.
The central government would give financial support of 48,000 crores over five years, or an average of 100 crores per city per year, in accordance with the mission’s guidelines. The state government or urban local authority shall contribute an equal amount on a matching basis.
A special-purpose vehicle is used to carry out the Smart Cities Mission at the city level. These SPVs design, carry out, run, keep an eye on, and assess their smart city projects.
Coimbatore’s restoration works along the bunds of Periyakulam Lake is near completion. It is one of the eight lakes in Coimbatore which are an important component of its cultural heritage. The beautification work is planned for over 1.8 km as part of Smart Cities Mission. pic.twitter.com/EZEvPGAnid
— Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (@MoHUA_India) March 27, 2020
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Cover Image Courtesy: @ministryofhousing/Twitter