The upcoming 12 smart cities will be developed as dedicated industrial hubs, each specific to a certain sector. While the one in Agra is proposed as a hub for electric vehicles and electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM), Palakkad could focus on medicines and botanicals. The industrial smart city in Gaya is being developed to generate maximum employment by setting up food processing, light engineering and metal-related industries. All cities will have specific and focused industrial hubs. The construction of these cities will take around three years and contractors will be onboarded by March. These cities will span across 10 states such as Andhra Pradesh,Bihar, Kerala and Telangana and six industrial corridors.India’s IPR regime improved, smart city work progresses in UP: MinisterThe first phase of smart city development in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is almost sold out and talks are on for the next phase, said Piyush Goyal, minister, commerce and industry. Last month, the Cabinet approved setting up 12 industrial smart cities including in Agra and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, with an employment potential of 1 million direct jobs and up to 3 million indirect jobs and investment potential of Rs 1.5 trillion. At the UP International Trade Show, he said that India’s intellectual property rights (IPR) regime has improved so much that in 2014, only 6,000 patents were issued in 2014 but in 2024, one 100,000 patents were issued. We are the 39th rank innovation economy in 133 countries. India’s position rose one notch to 39th among 133 global economies in the Global Innovation Index 2024 released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.74 Smart City projects have been completed in Bihar, claims ministerNitin Nabin, Urban Development and Housing Minister, Bihar claimed that74 projects under the Smart City Mission have been completed in the state and the remaining projects will be completed within the next five months. He revealed that a total of 129 projects fall under the Smart City Mission, with 70 per cent of the remaining 55 projects also completed. One of the flagship initiatives of the mission is the Patna Metro project. He provided further details on the ambitious Patna Metro Rail Project, emphasising that the total project spans 32.5 km, with 25 proposed stations - 12 elevated, 12 underground and one Grade Transit station. Urbanisation is an opportunity to build modern cities, says KantIndia's rapid urbanisation will see 500 million people moving into cities over the next four to five decades, the country's G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant said.  At an event in Mumbai he said that fifty percent of India for 2070 is still to be built, so we will see 500 million Indians getting into the process of urbanisation in the next four to five decades. This unprecedented urbanisation presents a unique opportunity for India to build cities that are not only modern but also equitable and sustainable. Underscoring the nation's economic trajectory, he said that in three years, India will overtake Japan and Germany to become the third largest economy and we are aiming to be a $30-trillion economy by 2047, which means that we will grow eight times bigger by 2047.Smart City projects launched by PMPrime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated five Varanasi Smart City projects aimed at promoting sports and enhancing the physical and mental well-being of citizens and sportspersons. The projects, totalling Rs 2.27 billion showcase the commitment to developing infrastructure for sports, recreation and community development. After seven months of inaugurating a multi-level multi-sports indoor sports complex built in the first phase of the Varanasi Sports Complex, the PM inaugurated the phase-II and III works. This state-of-the-art complex includes facilities such as a National Centre of Excellence, a hostel building, coaches' accommodation and other sports fields.Contact: Varanasi Smart City  Website: www.varanasismartcity.gov.in