Union Urban
Development Minister Honb’le Mr. Venkaiah Naidu announced the first list of 20
smart cities at a press conference on Thursday in Delhi.
The cities
were chosen on the basis of feasibility, smartness of proposal, performance
indicators among others and awarded marks out of 100. The Minister said, ‘Today
marks a historic landmark in annals of urban development as we get to know the
first batch of 'Smart Cities'.
Referring to the investment opportunities
in the backdrop of the recent financial crisis, he said, “People are
searching for safe investments. I offer smart cities as the safest investment
because land is going to be there, structures are going to be there, so the
returns are assured.”
The first 20
smart cities are: Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, NDMC (New Delhi),
Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Vizag, Solapur, Devangere, Indore, Coimbatore, Kakinada,
Belgaum, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal.
Here are key
facts about these Smart Cities that you should know:
Population (20
cities): 3.54 crore
Funding
Central
Funding: Rs. 48,000 crore to the Smart
City Mission over five years. This comes to on an average Rs. 100
crore per city per year.
State/ULBs Funding:
An amount equal to the Central Funding, on a matching basis, will have to be
contributed by the State/ULB
Total: Therefore
approx Rs. One Lakh Crore of Government/ULB funds will be available for Smart
Cities development.
Basic infrastructure/services to be provided:
- Assured water and power supply
- Sanitation
- Solid Waste Management
- Efficient Urban Mobility and Public Transport
- IT connectivity
- e-Governance and citizen participation
First Year and Subsequent Funding: In the first year,
Government proposes to give Rs.200 crore to each selected Smart City to create
a higher initial corpus. After deducting the Rs. two crore advance (for
preparation of Smart City Proposal -SCP)and Admin and Other Expenses share of
the MoUD, each selected Smart City will be given Rs. 194 crore out of Rs. 200
crore in the first year followed by Rs. 98 crore out of Rs. 100 crore every
year for the next three years
Role of States and Urban local Bodies
(ULBs): Key support role envisioned for
States and Urban local Bodies (ULBs). It is mentioned that smart
leadership and vision at this level and ability to act decisively will be
important factors determining the success of the Mission.
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV): The mission will be implemented at City
Level by
a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for the purpose. SPV to plan, appraise, approve, release
funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate the project.
SPV Governance: SPV to be headed by a CEO, with
representation in board from Central & State Govts and ULB.
Distribution of 100 Smart Cities: The total number of 100
Smart Cities has been distributed among the States and UTs on the basis of an
equitable criteria. The formula gives equal weightage (50:50) to urban
population of the State/UT and the number of statutory towns in the State/UT.
Based on this formula, each State/UT will, therefore, have a certain number of
potential Smart Cities, with each State/ UT having at least one.
Re-allocation of Smart Cities: The distribution of Smart
Cities will be reviewed after two years of the implementation of the Mission.
Based on an assessment of the performance of States/ULBs in the Challenge, some
re-allocation of the remaining potential Smart Cities among States may be
required to be done by MoUD.
Handholding
Agencies: During the preparation of the Smart Cities Mission, a
number of foreign Governments have offered to provide Technical Assistance (TA)
support.
Additionally,
other external organizations, including bilateral and multilateral
institutions, as well as domestic organizations have suggested to the Ministry
of Urban Development that they can give technical assistance support. These
include World Bank, ADB, JICA, USTDA, AFD, KfW, DFID, UN Habitat, UNIDO, etc.
Such
organizations, which have experience in the field of Smart City development,
can also extend support to the States/UTs as hand-holding agencies in preparing
the SCPs. The Ministry will assist in tying up the arrangements.
(Source:
Smart City Guidelines, Govt. of India)
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