97 SPVs formed to execute projects under Smart Cities Mission: Ministry

As many as 97 special purpose vehicles (SPVs) have so far been constituted to execute projects in cities selected under Smart Cities Mission, according to housing and urban affairs ministry.

Tenders have been issued for another 1,686 projects worth more than Rs 63,000 crore in various smart cities while 1,200 projects worth more than Rs 38,000 crore are under implementation, it said.

The ministry has announced 100 cities for central assistance under the BJP government's flagship programme. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015.

"Smart Cities Mission is the largest mission with citizen consultation ever undertaken & has a long incubation period.

"Every city took about 12-15 months to establish SPVs & identify PMCs (Project management consultants). But now with 97 SPVs & 82 PMCs in place, the mission is well & truly on its way (sic)," the ministry tweeted.

Each smart city will have an SPV, which will be headed by a full time CEO and have nominees of central government, state government and urban local bodies on its board.

In another tweet, the ministry said, "In order to provide safety & better services to the citizens, 11 state-of-the-art Command & Control Centres have been operationalized & another 17 Centres are on their way. Tenders have been called for an additional 31 Centres across the country."