Chhattisgarh capital Raipur to get Rs 3,900-crore smart makeover

An investment of Rs 3,900 crore would flow into Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh, to make it smart under a central government scheme.

Raipur was recently selected for the Smart Cities Mission, a project of the Ministry of Urban Development. The old city of Raipur would be covered in the mission. Chhattisgarh is also developing Naya Raipur, a new capital about 17 kilometres from the existing one. The Raipur Municipal Corporation would be the nodal agency to implement the smart city project.

“Of the total investment, Rs 1,000 crore would be shared by the Centre and the state governments,” Mayor Pramod Dubey told Business Standard. The fund would be released through an instalment of Rs 200 crore every year. The remaining amount would be arranged through the public private partnership model, he said, adding that a special purpose vehicle would be formed to execute the project.

The smart city plan would be implemented in the next five years. The focus would be on civic amenities besides strengthening the public transport system. The e-rikshaw concept would also be introduced in Raipur under the plan.   

Experts feel that implementing the smart city plan in Raipur would not be a difficult task. “The series of infrastructure development projects taken up in Raipur after it became the state capital of Chhattisgarh would facilitate the planners while designing the sketch for making it smarter,” infrastructure expert Anand Singhania said.

After the formation of Chhattisgarh, special focus was given for the development of Raipur as the state capital before the Naya Raipur model was designed. The previous projects would help the planners in a big way while designing the layout of the smart city.

The infrastructure built in Raipur in the last 16 years (the state came into being in November 2000), including six-four lanes roads inside the city and basic amenities, would play a vital role and make the work easy, Singhania added. The capital plan executed in Raipur would help the consultant irrespective of who bags the deal.