The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has moved to fast?track unfinished smart city works valued at Rs 7 billion (bn) following a directive that control of incomplete schemes be transferred from the Smart City Development Corporation (SCDC) to local municipal authorities. The change follows the central government decision not to extend the Smart City Mission beyond December 2025 and a subsequent instruction from the state urban development department for administrative handover. The municipal authority has said it will assume direct execution and oversight to avoid further slippage.

Five major projects remain incomplete and will be taken forward directly by the NMC under joint committees that include officials from both the civic body and the smart city corporation. Two of the most significant schemes are linked to the upcoming Kumbh Mela and comprise an integrated CCTV surveillance network and associated smart systems valued at Rs 3.71 bn and a City Network Backbone project for optical fibre cable infrastructure estimated at Rs 1.28 bn. Both works had originally been assigned by the Nashik–Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority to the SCDC.

Other pending initiatives include the expansion of water treatment capacity worth Rs 1.02 bn, a Godavari river desilting initiative involving installation of a mechanical gate costing Rs 96.1 mn, and a SCADA?based monitoring system for metering water supply sources, major pipelines and commercial connections. Municipal Commissioner Manisha Khatri said that dedicated committees would be formed for each project to improve coordination, monitor progress and remove bottlenecks. The emphasis will be on ensuring a seamless administrative handover while avoiding delays during the final stages of construction and implementation.

The joint panels are intended to provide focussed oversight, expedite decision making and clear procedural hurdles that have affected progress to date. The NMC has indicated that this approach is aimed at synchronising civic and smart city resources to deliver the outstanding works efficiently ahead of key events and municipal requirements. Regular monitoring and interagency collaboration will be prioritised to bring the projects to completion.