Bhopal, Surat, Udaipur to be India's first smart cities

06 May 2022 CW Team

Bhopal, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Indore are set to be declared India’s ‘first set of smart cities’ by the end of the year, seven years after the launch of a flagship urban renewal mission to make 100 cities sustainable and citizen-friendly.

The Smart Cities Mission had been launched on June 25, 2015, to smarten up cities with eco-friendly hi-tech solutions to urban problems and is in its last year of implementation. The mission period ends in June 2023. Of the 100 cities, the seven to have taken a lead with the most projects completed are Bhopal which has completed 92 per cent of projects, Surat 82.44 per cent, Udaipur 78 per cent, Bhubaneswar 76 per cent, Indore, Varanasi and Ahmedabad 70 per cent.

The cities are expected to complete the remaining work by the year-end. In the final year of the mission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is concentrating on the bottom 40 cities facing implementation problems. The mission has faced severe criticism for the pace of project completion. However, the ministry has maintained that big-ticket projects in cities were new ideas that took time in getting off the ground.

Technology

29 Jul 2026

AI-Enabled Workflows Lift Profitability and Productivity

Organisations modernising frontline workflows with artificial intelligence, automation and real-time data are reporting stronger financial performance, higher productivity and improved employee engagement, according to a global study by Zebra Technologies and Oxford Economics.The research covered 1,000 senior leaders across retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics in the US, Mexico, the UK, Germany, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.In transportation and logistics, 54 per cent of companies that improved picking and packing operations reported faster operational performance, wh..

India Leads Global AI Readiness but Implementation Lags

Indian companies lead global averages across all eight artificial intelligence readiness indicators tracked by JLL, but only 19 per cent have started making changes to their workplaces, according to the JLL 2026 Future of Work Survey.The study found that 77 per cent of Indian business leaders expect AI to change their office requirements, creating a 58-percentage-point gap between awareness and implementation. The survey covered more than 2,200 CEOs, CFOs and real estate leaders across 21 countries during the first quarter of 2026.Despite concerns over automation, 58 per cent of Indian leaders..

Three WOLFF Cranes Build Riyadh Cable-Stayed Bridges

Three WOLFF 180 B luffing jib cranes are supporting the construction of two cable-stayed bridges alongside the existing Wadi Laban Bridge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The project is being developed for the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and executed by the ICRC joint venture comprising IC Ictas and Al Rashid Trading & Contracting Company.The cranes are handling lifting operations including formwork, reinforcement, concrete placement, work platforms, surveying equipment and other construction materials. Each crane is fitted with a 40 m jib, reaches a hook height of 157 m and offers a maximum ..