Smart Cities Mission: Maharashtra gets biggest share of Rs 99-bn allocation

The Centre has released nearly Rs 99.4 billion to the states so far for the Smart Cities Mission, with Maharashtra accounting for the highest amount of Rs 13.78 billion, followed by Madhya Pradesh getting Rs 9.84 billion, according to government data.

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has announced 99 cities for central assistance under the BJP government's flagship programme.

The total proposed investment in these cities was Rs 2.03 trillion.

Maharashtra with eight cities, including Pune and Nashik, has received a central grant of Rs 13.78 billion so far, followed by Madhya Pradesh, with seven cities getting a central grant of Rs 9.84 billion, the ministry data shows.

Tamil Nadu, with the highest of 11 cities selected for the mission, has so far received Rs 8.48 billion. Karnataka with seven cities got Rs 8.36 billion. Rajasthan with four cities-- Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer--received Rs 7.84 billion.

Andhra Pradesh, whose four cities were selected, received a central assistance of Rs 5.88 billion, Uttar Pradesh with 10 cities received Rs 5.47 billion and Gujarat, whose six cities were chosen, got Rs 5.09 billion, the data showed.

Under the mission, the cities propose to take up various projects, including "smart" roads, rejuvenation of water bodies, cycle tracks, walking paths, smart classrooms, skill development centers, upgradation of health facilities, and pan-city projects like integrated command and control center.

The Centre released Rs 80 million to West Bengal whose New Town Kolkata was selected for the mission in May 2016. However, the state government had already announced that it would not participate in the Smart Cities Mission.

Earlier, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that as on January 17, there were 2,948 projects worth Rs 1.38 trillion in various stages of implementation, while 189 projects worth Rs 22.37 billion had been completed.

Stating that Smart City Mission was setting a benchmark in terms of implementation of projects, Puri had underlined that the progress of implementation depended on the round of selection of the city as it takes around 15-18 months after the selection to call tenders for the projects.

The Centre provides about Rs 5 billion to each city under the mission, with Rs 2 billion funding in the first year of its selection, followed by about Rs 1 billion over the next three years.

The release of funds depends on certain conditions, including satisfactory physical and financial progress indicated by utilisation certificate that the cities have to submit to the ministry.

States that have received around Rs 2 billion so far included Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Tripura.

States that got around Rs 1 billion included Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim.