13 Smart Cities Complete All Projects, 48 Near Full Completion: Centre

03 Dec 2024 CW Team

Thirteen of India's 100 designated smart cities have successfully completed all their projects under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), while 48 others have achieved over 90% project completion, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu informed the Lok Sabha. As of November 15, 2024, work orders for 8,066 projects valued at Rs 1.65 trillion have been issued. Of these, 7,352 projects worth Rs 1.47 trillion, accounting for 91% of the total, are complete. The central government has allocated Rs 480 billion for the SCM, releasing Rs 472.25 billion to states and Union territories, with Rs 446.26 billion utilised so far (94% of the central share). The initiative, launched in June 2015, has been extended to March 31, 2025, following requests from states and Union territories. Delays have been attributed to legal hurdles, clearance bottlenecks, land acquisition issues, and challenges in vendor and resource availability in smaller cities and hilly regions. Key achievements under the SCM include the installation of over 84,000 CCTV cameras and the development of 713 km of cycle tracks. More than 1,740 km of smart roads have been built or upgraded, alongside 9,433 smart classrooms across 2,398 government schools. Forty-one digital libraries with a seating capacity of 4,809, 172 e-health centers, and 152 health ATMs have also been established. To improve urban utilities, over 17,026 km of water supply networks are monitored using Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, significantly reducing non-revenue water losses. Additionally, 66 cities have adopted advanced technologies for solid waste management, leading to better route planning and enhanced daily operations. In the solid waste sector, 9,194 vehicles equipped with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems are operational, boosting efficiency and digitizing waste collection processes. (ET)

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