Centre To Incubate 8 New Smart Cities Under New Cities Scheme

The Centre has launched a new scheme as an extension of the Smart City Mission. Writes ETV Bharat’s Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched a new scheme as an extension of the Smart City Mission where an allocation of Rs 8,000 crore has been earmarked as a performance-based challenge fund for the incubation of 8 new cities.

"Following the successful completion of the Smart Cities Mission, a New Cities Scheme has been conceptualised to manage the pressures of rapid urbanisation," said Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the 15th Finance Commission (15 FC) has allocated Rs 8,000 crore as a performance-based challenge fund for the incubation of 8 new cities. A State can have only one new city through this fund.

"In line with the recommendations of the 15th FC, the Ministry constituted an Expert Committee (EC) for finalisation of bid parameters for the incubation of new cities. The Committee finalised minimum eligibility conditions & bid parameters, and a Request for Proposal (RfP) was circulated to all States. The Ministry received 26 proposals from 21 States. Due to the non-receipt of qualitative proposals from North-Eastern States, fresh and revised proposals were sought from these States. Consequently, 28 proposals from 23 States have been received," Manohar said.

Names of Andhra Pradesh’s Kopparthay, Arunachal Pradesh’s Gumin Nagar, Assam’s Jagiroad, Goa’s New MOPA Ayush City, Pernem, Gujarat’s GIFT city expansion/Ambaji, Haryana’s Gurugram, Himachal Pradesh’s Mountain Township, Jharkhand’s New Ranchi City, Kerala’s Aerocity/ OAGC Neopolis – The New City, Pallipuram, Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur Extension/ Pithampur phase 4, Maharashtra’s Virul/ Savargaon Mal, Manipur’s Gateway City, Meghalaya’s New Shillong Knowledge City, Mizoram’s Tanhril Local Council, Nagaland’s Chhathe Valley, Odisha’s Bhubaneswar, Punjab’s Aerotropolis, Rajasthan’s GFC-Ranpur, Sikkim’s Pakyong, Tamil Nadu’s Thirumazhisai, Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, Uttarakhand’s Doiwala/ Prag Farm Township and West Bengal’s Bantala Greenfield City, Karmadiganta have been proposed to get included into the new scheme of the smart city mission.

According to government data, available in possession of ETV Bharat, 100 cities selected under the Smart Cities Mission, are developing 8000 multi-sectoral projects, as per their local needs amounting to Rs 1,65,000 crore.

"These projects can be categorised into ICCC, smart mobility, smart energy, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), Vibrant Public Spaces, Economic Infrastructure, Social Infrastructure, and Smart Governance among others," the government data stated.

It said that 91 per cent of total projects (7,352 projects worth Rs 1,47,366 crore) have been completed and around 714 projects worth Rs 17,303 crore are under implementation across 100 Smart Cities.

"Out of the total allocated budget of Rs 48,000 crore, the Government of India has released Rs 46,419 crore to the cities under the mission, of which Rs 44,545 crore has been utilized by Smart cities," the data revealed.

Highlighting some achievements of the Smart Cities Mission, the government data further stated that all 100 smart cities have an operational Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) which are utilising data to make data-based decisions. "The use of technology towards urban management has increased," it said.

According to the data, more than 83,000 CCTV surveillance cameras have been installed in 100 smart cities which helps in crime monitoring. 1,884 emergency call boxes, 3,000+ public address systems, and traffic enforcement systems for red light violations, automatic number plate recognition, etc. have improved public safety.

The data further stated that over 17,000 kms of water supply systems are being monitored through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) in 31 smart cities, reducing the non-revenue water and leakages.

According to the data 9,400 number of Wifi hotspot locations were created and more than 83,000 CCTV cameras were installed under the smart city mission. "More than 9,400 smart classrooms have been developed across 2,300 government schools in 71 smart cities. 38 Digital Libraries and 1,600+ Anganwadis have been developed," it said.

More than 50 cities are successfully implementing 199 projects with Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects worth Rs 9,200 crores, the data revealed.