The Ministry of Urban Development on Tuesday announced as many as 13 winners of the 'fast track competition’ under the smart cities mission.
The cities are Lucknow, Warangal, Dharmashala, Chandigarh, Raipur, New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Panaji, Port Blair, Imphal, Ranchi, Agartala and Faridabad.
"As many as 9 out of these 13 cities scored 25 per cent more over their smart city proposal submitted previously," M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Urban Development Minister, said.
In January this year, the top 20 winning cities under the first round were announced which covered only 12 states and union territories. The government had then decided to conduct a ‘fast track competition’ to offer an opportunity to the highest ranked city in each of the unrepresented 23 states and UTs.
All these 23 cities and had submitted revised proposals last month and those meeting the benchmark set by the winning cities in the first round of the competition will now get central assistance.
These 23 cities were Warangal, Chandigarh, Lucknow, New Town Kolkata, Goa, Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Dharmashala, Faridabad, Raipur, Bhagalpur (Bihar), Shillong (Meghalaya), Namchi (Sikkim), Port Blair, Diu, Oulgaret (Puducherry), Silvassa (Dadra & Nagar Haveli), Imphal (Manipal), Ranchi, Agartala, Kohima, Kavaratti (Lakshadweep) and Dehradun.
Meanwhile, for the regular second round of the competition, the remaining 97 cities have to submit revised smart city plans by June end this year. Those of the 23 cities included in the fast track competition which fail to be selected can also join this second round of competition.
Operated as a centrally sponsored scheme, the Centre has proposed a financial support of ₹48,000 crore over five years, i.e. on an average ₹100 crore per city per year. States have to match this amount.
The project intends to promote adoption of smart solutions to enhance the quality of urban life and provide a clean and sustainable environment.
source: Businessline
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