<div>In a key step in Modi government's infrastructure push, Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday (27 August) announced the list of ninety eight cities chosen for its Smart Cities project after a nationwide "competition" between states.</div><div> </div><div>While Uttar Pradesh has bagged as many as 13 smart cities projects, Tamil Nadu got 12 and Maharashtra 10. Madhya Pradesh will have seven smart cities and Gujarat and Karnataka will have six each.</div><div> </div><div>The winners include Lucknow and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Baroda in Gujarat, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.</div><div> </div><div>Cities like Patna, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Shimla have failed to make the cut in round one.</div><div> </div><div>Each state will get at least one Smart City, which, in PM Modi's words, translates to "very high quality of life comparable with any developed European city".</div><div> </div><div>The NDA government plans to spend over Rs 3 lakh crore over the next 5-6 years to recast urban cities. Of the 98 smart cities, 24 are business and industry centres, 18 are cultural and tourist centres and 3 are education and health care hubs, Naidu said.</div><div> </div><div>According to Naidu, "13 crore population across 98 cities which is 35 per cent of urban population will be covered under smart city mission." "Making them (cities) smart will make them engines of economic growth besid .. </div><div> </div><div>To earn a Smart City tag, the city has to check all the boxes that include service levels, existing infrastructure and track record. Proposals from states were also judged on how realistic is its execution.</div><div> </div><div>The top 20 cities will be financed this year.</div><div> </div><div>The rest of the cities will be asked to get their act together, focus on deficiencies and prepare for Round 2 of the competition.</div><div> </div><div>During the selection process, each state was assigned a specific number of Smart City slots based on urban population among other factors.</div><div> </div><div>There is no universally accepted definition of a Smart City and varies from city to city and country to country, depending on the level of development, willingness to change and reform, resources and aspirations of the city residents.</div><div> </div><div>In the approach to the Smart Cities Mission, the objective is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities. The Smart Cities Mission of the Government is a bold, new initiative. It is meant to set examples that can be replicated both within and outside the Smart City, catalysing the creation of similar Smart Cities in various regions and parts of the country.</div><div> </div><div>The core infrastructure elements in a Smart City would include- i. adequate water supply, ii. assured electricity supply, iii. sanitation, including solid waste management, iv. efficient urban mobility and public transport, v. affordable housing, especially for the poor, vi. robust IT connectivity and digitalization, vii. good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation, viii. sustainable environment, ix. safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and x. health and education.<br><br><div>Dr Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings & Research, says "selection of smart cities is the first step. Major challenge is to provide quality urban services such as 24X7 water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, sewage treatment. Looking at finances of urban local bodies, which are far from healthy, provision of these services will be challenging. Levying of user charges to recover cost of provision of these services will be crucial to maintain quality of these services. In the process of smart cities focus should not divert from providing urban services in other cities and make them more liveable.<br><br><div>Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & MD, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd, said, “The successful development of these Smart Cities will now hinge on their effective implementation and monitoring at a central as well as state level. Huge fund mobilisation, government capacity building at the state and city level and public private partnerships will be required for development of these cities. This can be a game changer for India as it can stimulate economic growth, besides improve the quality of life for millions of people.”<br><br><div>Getamber Anand, President, Credai National, said: “It is a very positive initiative and we trust there will be a concrete action plan to make this ambition possible. The private sector is already well versed in making smart real estate developments which boast of all the ingredients a smart city must have, and must certainly be coaxed into partnership with respective state governments to contribute in every way possible towards this initiative."</div><div> </div></div></div><div> </div></div>
