Smart Cities Mission
National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable.[3] The Union Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for implementing the mission in collaboration with the state governments of the respective cities. The mission was planned to include 100 cities, with the deadline for completion of the projects set between 2019 and 2023. As of September 2023, 6188 out of total 7960 tendered projects have been completed, utilizing ₹113,721 crores out of total tendered amount of ₹171,432 crore.[4]
Smart Cities Mission
India
Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs
Kunal Kumar (Mission Director)[1]
2015
₹203,979 crore (US$24 billion)[2]
Description[edit]
Smart Cities Mission envisions developing areas within selected cities in the country as model areas based on an area development plan, which is expected to have a rub-off effect on other parts of the city and nearby cities and towns.[5] Cities will be selected based on the Smart Cities challenge, where cities will compete in a countrywide competition to obtain the benefits from this mission. It is a five-year program in which financial aid will be given by the central government to the cities.[6] The Ministry of Urban Development used a competition-based method as a means for selecting cities for funding.[7] The state governments were asked to nominate potential cities with the overall count across India limited to 100.[8] A hundred cities have been selected so far to be upgraded as part of the Smart Cities Mission.[9][10] Each city will create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) headed by a CEO to implement the projects under mission.[11]