As many as 13 out of 100 smart cities have completed all their projects, while 48 cities have achieved over 90 per cent completion under the Smart Cities Mission, the Lok Sabha was informed on November 28.

In a written reply to a question, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said 23 other smart cities have completed over 75 per cent of its projects, adding that 714 projects amounting to Rs 17,303 crore are currently in the implementation stage.

Smart Cities Mission

• Smart Cities Mission was launched on 25 June, 2015. 

• The main objective of the Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and give a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’. 

• The Mission aims to drive economic growth and improve quality of life through comprehensive work on social, economic, physical and institutional pillars of the city. 

• The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development by creation of replicable models which act as lighthouses to other aspiring cities. 

• As many as 100 cities have been selected to be developed as Smart Cities through a two-stage competition.

• The Mission is operated as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. 

• Under the Smart Cities Mission, the central government has a total outlay of Rs 48,000 crore for the 100 cities. An equal amount on a matching basis is to be provided by the state/Urban Local Body.

• Additional resources are to be raised through convergence, from ULBs’ own funds, grants under Finance Commission, innovative finance mechanisms such as Municipal Bonds, other government programs and borrowings. 

• Emphasis has been given on the participation of private sector through Public Private Partnerships (PPP).

Features of Smart Cities

• There is no universally accepted definition of a Smart City. It means different things to different people. 

• The conceptualisation of Smart City, therefore, varies from city-to-city and country-to-country, depending on the level of development, willingness to change and reform, resources and aspirations of city residents. 

• In the approach to the Smart Cities Mission, the objective is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘smart’ solutions. 

Some typical features of comprehensive development in Smart Cities include:

• Promoting mixed land use in area-based developments. 

• Housing and inclusiveness.

• Creating walkable localities.

• Preserving and developing open spaces.

• Promoting a variety of transport options — Transit Oriented Development (TOD), public transport and last mile para-transport connectivity.

• Making governance citizen-friendly and cost effective.

• Giving an identity to the city based on its main economic activity.

• Applying smart solutions to infrastructure and services in area based development in order to make them better. 

Status of implementation plan

• As on November 15, 2024, the central government has released Rs 47,225 crore to states/Union territories under SCM, out of which Rs 44,626 crore (which is 94 per cent of the total central share released) have been utilised.

• On the request received from various state and union territories, the period of Smart Cities Mission has been extended up to March 31, 2025.

• Work orders have been issued in 8,066 projects amounting to Rs 1,64,669 crore, of which 7,352 projects amounting to Rs 1,47,366 crore (91 per cent of total projects) have been completed.

• The delay in completion of projects can be largely attributed to various reasons including legal issues, delay in obtaining clearances from different departments, land acquisition, construction in hilly areas, challenges in vendor and resource availability in small and medium cities.

• More than 84,000 CCTV surveillance cameras have been installed in 100 smart cities assisting in crime monitoring. 

• More than 1,740 kms of smart roads constructed/improved and 713 kms of cycle tracks developed. Further, the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) has been implemented and monitored through the Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) improving traffic operations and air quality, enforcing traffic violations, and improving journey time.

• More than 17,026 kms of water supply system being monitored through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, reducing the Non-Revenue Water in our cities.

• More than 66 cities are managing Solid Waste Management with increased usage of technology, which has improved Route Management, Efficiency of Collection and Daily Management.

• Around 9,194 vehicles have been Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) enabled for Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) to digitise and improve the efficiency of solid waste management.

• More than 9,433 smart classrooms have been developed across 2,398 government schools. 

• As many as 172 e-health centers and clinics have been developed (without dedicated beds) and 152 numbers of health ATMs installed.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store