France's AFD keen to fund 100 mn euros for smart cities mission: Sources

French development bank AFD has shown interest to fund 100 million euros (around Rs 8 billio) for India's smart cities mission, a finance ministry official has said.

Under the smart city mission, the government has so far identified 99 cities for upgradation which would require a total investment of about Rs 2.03 trillion.

"France's AFD has said it is interested in funding 100 million euros for smart cities mission. The funding is expected to be finalised before President Emmanuel Macron's expected visit to India next month," the official told PTI.

Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) is France's development bank that finances and provides technical assistance to projects that improve daily livelihood in developing and emerging countries. AFD has been operating in India since 2008.

The official said while assistance from the World Bank has also been received for the smart city project, some countries like Germany and Japan are interested in providing technical know-how for infrastructure development.

The cities selected for smart city mission would be developed to have basic infrastructure through assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation.

Under the scheme, each city will get Rs 5 billion from the Centre for implementing various projects. An equal amount, on matching basis, will have to be contributed by the state or urban local bodies.

In January 2016, 20 cities were identified under the smart cities mission, followed by 13 cities in May 2016, 27 cities in September 2016 and 30 cities in June 2017. 9 more cities have been chosen in the fourth round in January 2018, taking the total tally to 99.