The Government of India launched the National Mission of the Smart City on June 25, 2015. The mission of this program is to develop smart cities all over India. It is the venture of central and state governments. The Union Ministry of Urban Development is looking after the smart cities mission in collaboration with the State Government of the respective cities. Under the mission in the starting 100 cities are included and it has to complete between 2019 and 2023. Read more about the Basic Understanding Of Infrastructure Investment System.
Aim of the Smart city mission by India
The aim of the Smart City Mission is to accelerate economic growth and improve the lives of the people living there. It includes the development of the local area with the help of technology for smart outcomes. Smart cities are cities that work for people. It also aimed to develop multiple opportunities for people with different interests. Read more about A Closer Look About Telecommunication Infrastructure In India.
The selection process to select the cities was started on the basis of the urban population and also on the number of towns in the cities. For this, a competition was held where there are two-stage competitions. In the first stage of the competition, the winning cities will go to the national level.
At last, the cities with the highest score on the existing service level were selected. Institutional capacities, self-financing, past records and reforms, and the quality of proposals for a smart city are some of the important criteria for the selection of cities.
Smart Cities Competition
The first round was held in January 2016 in which 20 cities were selected. Then in the fast-track round, another 13 cities were selected in the month of May 2016. The second round was conducted in September 2016 were 27 cities were selected. Like that in June 2017 third round was done selecting 30 cities. The last round was done in January 2018 when another 9 cities were taken. The finally the 100 city is the Shilong, the capital of Meghalaya, which was included in June 2018.
Smart Cities Mission focused on the development of the area within the cities which will act as a model for the development of the nearby areas.
In Five year plans, all Indian states and union territories are participating and nominating at least one city in the challenge, except West Bengal. Both the Central and the state governments will provide financial aid from 2017 to 2022. The result of the mission can be seen from 2022.
The five-year plan has focused on the economic development of the country. Smart Cities Mission is also started for the development of the cities and economic infrastructure growth. If you are interested to know more about Economic infrastructure development kindly refer to my blog on the Economic Infrastructure of India.
Project Funding
Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Smart Cities Mission on 25 June 2015 including 100 cities. The Indian Cabinet has approved an amount of 98,000 crores for the development of the 100 smart cities and to upgrade 500 other cities. Out of which 48,000 crores are for the Smart Cities Mission and another 50,000 crores are for the Atal Mission for rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. Read more about What Is The Economic Infrastructure In India?
In the Union Budget of 2014, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has allocated 7016 crores for the 150 smart cities. But out of this allocated amount, only 94 crores were used till February 2015. So, in the 2015 union budget, an amount of 143 crores was allocated for the project. The 20 cities selected in the first round got central assistance of 200 crores in the financial year. For the next three years, they are having 100 crores each year.
The Smart City Mission is started for the development of the cities in which the maximum number of population is living. The mission will lead to the development area that is nearer to the cities. It will improve the economic development of the cities.