Centre to give Rs 480 bn support for Smart Cities over 5 years

The Centre will provide Rs 480 billion in financial support for the development of smart cities in the country, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore said. The Centre launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on June 25, 2015. One hundred cities have been selected to be developed as Smart Cities through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. As per the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) guidelines, the central government will provide financial support to the extent of Rs 480 billion crore over five years, or an average of Rs 1 billion crore per city per year. An equal amount on a matching basis will be contributed by the state government/urban local body (ULB), Kishore told the Rajya Sabha. As on July 8 this year, the Centre has released Rs 3,075.14 billion for 100 smart cities, of which Rs 2,761.03 billion (90 per cent) has been utilised, the minister said. As on July 8, 2022, these Smart Cities have tendered 7,822 projects worth Rs 1,906.60 billion; work orders have been issued in 7,649 projects worth Rs 1,809.96 billion and 4,085 projects worth Rs 6,691.20 billion have been completed.See also: Officials urged to expedite the Smart City project in JalandharGVMC corporators to go on a smart cities study tour