Around 3000 smart city projects worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore are in various stages of implementation out of which 79 projects worth Rs 841 crore have been completed, informed Anupam Mishra, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, today.
He also said that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is preparing a Liveable Index for smart cities across the country, the bench marking of which should be emulated by the developers of such cities to make world class dwelling units. He said this at a conference on ‘Smart Cities in India – Journey So Far’ held under the aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today.
Without specifying the timeframe by which such benchmarking standards would be in the public domain, he disclosed that the government would soon select 10 more smart cities.
Central government announced the list of 30 cities for development as smart cities in June this year. There are a total of 90 cities selected so far under the Smart City Mission launched on June 25, 2015.
The 30 cities announced in June proposed a total investment of Rs 57,393 crore under respective smart city plans. This includes Rs 46,879 crore for ensuring core infrastructure in the areas identified by citizens for area-based development and Rs 10,514 crore for technology-based solutions for improving governance, service delivery and utilisation of infrastructure.
With this the total investment approved under the smart city plans of 90 cities stands at Rs 1,91,155 crore. Some of the cities selected in the third round included Thiruvananthapuram, Naya Raipur in Chattisgarh, Rajkot, Karnal, among others.
As many as 20 cities are expected to contest for the remaining 10 slots under smart city mission. These are; Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Biharsharif (Bihar), Diu (Daman & Diu), Silvassa (Dadra and Nager Haveli), Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), Navimumbai, Greater Mumbai and Amaravati (Maharashtra), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Dindigul and Erode (Tamil Nadu), Bidhannagar, Durgapur and Haldia (West Bengal), Meerut, Rai Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Sharanpur and Rampur (UP).
M Ariz Ahammed, mission director, National Water Mission, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga rejuvenation, said that the ministry of water resources and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) are jointly developing standards for water levelling so that the quality of water is ensured for smart cities.
The government will also bring out measurement standards for water so that wastage is restricted and the focus is on multiple recycling of water for diverse use, he added.
Others who spoke at the event were Rajeev Talwar, Vice President, PHD Chamber; Anuj Khanna, Co-Chairman, Housing and Urban Development Committee, PHD Chamber and Ranjeet Mehta, principal director, PHD Chamber.
