The Comptroller and Auditor General audit of the Tamil Nadu Smart City Mission found that 52 projects were not implemented and 44 unplanned projects were taken up, many outside the mission scope. It identified 70 projects executed outside selected Area-Based Development (ABD) areas across seven sampled cities, valued at Rs 6.5543 billion (bn). The findings indicate diversion of mission funds to works municipal corporations should have funded.

Of the 44 unplanned projects, five were routine works that the concerned corporations should have carried out and 21 were implemented outside the ABD area. The distribution was 20 projects in Chennai, four in Coimbatore, three in Madurai, 15 in Tirunelveli and two in Tiruppur. The audit said such choices undermined the strategic priorities of the Smart City Mission.

The audit pointed to delays, idle projects after completion and commencement of some works without mandatory clearances. It recorded that suggestions from City Level Advisory Forum meetings were often not complied with and that these deficiencies contributed to non-achievement of intended objectives. The findings were attributed to weaknesses in planning and oversight.

The report observed that special purpose vehicles set up to implement the mission did not have full-time chief executive officers in six sampled cities, Chennai being the sole exception. In Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem and Tiruppur, 23 of the 70 micro composting centres constructed at a cost of Rs 485.9 million (mn) were not functioning. In Salem and Madurai, 211 battery-operated vehicles remained unserviceable for three to five years.

It further recorded that multi-level car parks with commercial complexes in Coimbatore, Erode, Salem and Tiruppur costing Rs 1,159.2 million (mn) could not be put to use because works remained incomplete. The audit noted 93 projects requiring government clearances were started without necessary approvals, exacerbating cost and time overruns. The report linked these shortcomings to weak governance and recommended stronger clearance procedures and project monitoring.