New Delhi: The Union government on Monday said that the progress in the prestigious Smart City projects in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya has been moving at a slow pace. Now, the government has extended the implementation period for Smart City projects up to June 2024. "The period of implementation of the Smart City mission has been extended up to June 2024 and all Smart Cities are expected to complete their projects within the stipulated time," said Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore in the Rajya Sabha.
The Government of India launched the smart city mission on June 15, 2015. At least 100 smart cities were selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. "As on July 2023, work orders were issued for 7,978 projects in 100 Smart Cities out of which 5,909 projects (74 per cent) have been completed," said Kishore.
The total amount sanctioned for these projects was Rs 179,228.99 crore. According to government statistics, of the total 143 projects in Bihar, only 92 projects have been completed with Rs 2789.35 crore. The total amount sanctioned for the same city projects in Bihar is Rs 5818.29 crore. Similarly, in Chhattisgarh, 151 projects of the total 530 are still underway. The total cost for the Smart City project in Chhattisgarh is Rs 5337.23 crore. According to government data, of the total 301 projects in Himachal Pradesh, at least 138 are still incomplete even after spending a sum of Rs 719.20 crore.
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The total amount sanctioned for Smart City projects in Himachal Pradesh was Rs 1618.79 crore. Of the total 17 Smart City projects in the northeastern states of Meghalaya, only two projects worth Rs 20.14 crore have been completed. The top three states with the maximum number of Smart City projects are Karnataka (914), Uttar Pradesh (876) and Madhya Pradesh (803). According to the statistics, 828 projects have been completed in Karnataka, whereas 640 projects completed in Uttar Pradesh and 619 projects have been finished in Madhya Paradesh.
Initially, the date for completion of the Smart City project was June 2023. As per Smart City Mission (SCM) guidelines, the Central government will provide financial support to the extent of Rs 48,000 crore over five years on an average of Rs 100 crore per city per year. An equal amount on a matching basis will be contributed by the State government and Union Territory (UT) as well as Urban Local Body (ULB).
The ratio of financial contribution was, however, 90:10 for the 13 Smart Cities in northeastern and hilly states. As per government data, Rs 73,454 crore has been released for 100 Smart Cities of which Rs 66,023 crore (90 per cent) has been utilised. Through the Smart City Mission, the Government of India aims to implement diverse and complex projects in all areas of urban governance such as mobility, environment, public safety, disaster resilience, health, education, housing, water, sanitation and waste management.
