Centre asks states to recommend potential areas for smart cities

The Union ministry of urban development has asked states to give their recommendations on which areas of the country can be turned into smart cities, a government official said on Friday.

Shankar Aggarwal, secretary of the ministry said the 100 smart cities promised by the Bharatiya Janata Party in its pre-election manifesto would be “brownfield” projects.

He also said states had been asked for their inputs and the list of new cities would be finalised by end of August.

As far as the parameters on which these cities would be selected were concerned, Aggarwal said that “economic potential of the area” was what was being kept in mind.

Aggarwal was speaking on the sidelines of a Ficci event on e-governance and said the government might set up a semi-governmental body to execute the project.

The National Democratic Alliance government had allocated upwards of Rs 7,700 crore in the Union Budget for smart cities. Technology plays a key role in high-tech smart cities, which hold the promise of better urban development.

The key infrastructure of the city such as roads, traffic, electricity, water and sewage management among others are all connected through a technology platform and controlled at an integrated centre.

These cities are ring-fenced with CCTV cameras and chips, which feed information into the control centre. This helps not only in better urban planning but also improves use of resources. India already has some smart cities such as one in Surat, Gujarat.

The project has generated huge interest from corporate houses in India  and globally as it will lead to huge opportunities for them, especially for technology-centric ones.