The three-day “Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation” conference had a grand opening in Surat today, with 100 Smart Cities joining from across the country.

The conference is being organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India (GoI) with Surat Smart City Corporation Development Ltd, under the clarion call of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), presented by the Prime Minister to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence.

Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, was the chief guest at the event. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, addressed the gathering via Video Message.

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Railways Darshana Jardosh, Vinod Moradiya, Minister of Urban development and urban housing, Government of Gujarat, Dr Audimulapu Suresh, Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh, C.R. Patil, MP, and Hemali Kalpeshkumar Boghawala, Mayor of Surat, took part in the inaugural session.

All key urban stakeholders from Central and State Governments attended the event, including inter alia, Secretary, MoHUA Manoj Joshi, Principal Secretaries of States and UTs, Municipal Commissioners of Cities, MDs, and CEOs of 100 Smart Cities. State Level Nodal Agencies and Mission Directorates, professionals, media, industry representatives, and members of academia also attended the event, which highlighted some of the important initiatives being executed in 100 Smart Cities.

During the inaugural, an awards distribution ceremony was organised, wherein award winners of the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020 were felicitated. Earlier, these awards were announced via the virtual conference in 2021. However, the award distribution ceremony was delayed due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Surat and Indore were awarded the Best city award, while Uttar Pradesh was given the Best State. In Annexures I, II & III the list of the awardees is enclosed.

The event also featured the release of Urban Outcomes Framework 2022, including, Ease of Living’, Municipal Performance Index, Data Maturity, and ClimateSmart Cities Assessment Framework. The Ministry's integrated data portal AMPLIFI, which will deliver valuable data about Indian cities, was also launched.

During the event, Smart Cities Mission also launched a comprehensive dashboard with Outcome Output Management Framework (OOMF) dashboard in Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS).

The inaugural day of the ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation’ mega conclave showcased different interactive activities, arranged interactions with eminent speakers, and learnings across the five themes registered from across the country.

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