Rs 27 cr released for Sultanpur Lodhi smart city project

The Centre has released Rs 27.11 crore as the first instalment for the Sultanpur Lodhi Smart City project in Kapurthala district of Punjab, the state government said on Saturday.

The estimated cost of the project, under the Smart Cities Mission, is Rs 271.11 crore, to be equally distributed between the Union and the state government. It is to be released in three instalments of 20:40:40, the official statement said.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will launch a series of long-term development projects for various towns and regions associated with Guru Nanak Dev during the 550th birth anniversary celebrations in November, it said.

The Sultanpur Lodhi Smart City development project is among the most prominent of these projects, the release added.

In its letter to the state government, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has said that the sanction shall be regulated in accordance with the provision of General Financial Rules 2017, and the amount has to be used as a tied grant and to be kept as a separate city level grant.

The project has to be completed in a maximum of three years.

The Special Purpose Vehicle, through urban local bodies department of the Punjab government, will furnish utilisation in the prescribed performas as provided in the Smart Cities Mission guidelines.

The second and third installment would be released on furnishing of utilisation certificates for at least 75 per cent of the composite share of central as well as the state government, as per the communication received by the state.

The project is among several others approved by the National Implementation Committee, constituted last November by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the chairmanship of then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in the country and abroad.

The state government had proposed the projects to central government, including the development of Sultanpur Lodhi, where Guru Nanak was believed to have spent most of his life, as a heritage city.

The NIC had approved the historic town's special development plan, incorporating 'Pinde Baba Nanak Da', the release further stated.