Smart cities mission

The Smart Cities mission was launched in June 2015 with the government releasing the guidelines and mission statement for the 100 Smart Cities project. It will provide central funding of Rs 50,802 crore to the selected cities for improving their infrastructure and service delivery through application of better technology and e-governance.

• States and Urban local Bodies (ULBs) will play a key supportive role in the development of Smart Cities. Smart leadership and vision at this level and ability to act decisively will be important factors determining the success of the Mission.

Funding:

According to mission guidelines, the total State and Central financial assistance for each smart city would be Rs. 1,000 crore. The central government will grant every winning city a sum of Rs. 500 crore as overall cache of start-up funds and the State governments will provide an additional Rs. 500 crore.

SPV:

• The Central government has created an outside agency named Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will be headed by a CEO, and will be given powers to “execute” the proposed developments and projects.
• The professionally managed SPV will be empowered to execute the smart city projects in a timely and cost-effective manner while ensuring that the quality of the outcomes is benchmarked against global standards.

What are smart cities?

A ‘smart city’ is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor networks and data centres.

The core infrastructure in a smart city would include:

• Adequate water supply.
• Assured electricity supply.
• Sanitation, including solid waste management.
• Efficient urban mobility and public transport.
• Affordable housing, especially for the poor.
• Robust IT connectivity and digitalization.
• Good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation.
• Sustainable environment.
• Safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly.
• Health and education.

Latest Update:
The Union government has announced the names of 13 more cities that will be developed under the Centre’s “Smart City Mission.”

• These cities were chosen from the 23 that failed to get representation in the first round of a competition held in January, and participated in the “fast-track competition.”
• Lucknow tops the list, followed by Warangal in Telangana and Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
• With this, the investment proposed by 33 cities under the smart city plans is now Rs. 80,789 crore.