Govt extends timeline for execution of Smart Cities Mission to 2023

Durga Shanker Mishra, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs informed Parliament that the Centre has extended the deadline for implementing the Smart Cities Mission to June 2023. The delay has been attributed to the pandemic. The ambitious program's physical progress, which aims to develop citizen-friendly and self-sustaining urban settlements, was previously expected to be measured by 2021 when the first 20 of them were to be completed. On June 25, 2015, the government announced the project to transform 100 cities into smart cities. The cities were chosen through four rounds of selection from January 2016 to June 2018.