The pan-city projects include smart grid implementation, 40 MW solar power projects, waste water management plants, e-learning solutions in all NDMC schools, centralising students’ health e-records and integration of all public medical facilities through cloud-based e-healthcare system.
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Of these 20 cities accounting for a total population of 35.4 crore, five have population below 0.5 million each, four are in the range of 0.5-1million, six in between 1-2.5 million, four between 2.5 and 5 million.
What is New Delhi – surely one of the most developed parts of the country – doing there?
As many as 97 cities were in the race to secure funding in the first round of the smart cities challenge.
Apart from New Delhi, the 20 cities were chosen from a list of over 100 cities in a nationwide competition to pick cities and towns for giving a smart city makeover. Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu has promised that proposals of another 23 cities will also be approved in the next few months and more cities will be selected through another round of competition thereafter.
Officials of 15 cities including Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Jaipur, Guwahati, Warangal, Passighat, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhagalpur, Agartala, Port Blair, Kohima, Amritsar, Salem, Rajkot, Hubli-Dharward, Tirupati and Durgapur shared their experiences and views with the cabinet secretary. HOW THE WINNERS PRESENTED THEIR CASEBHUBANESWAR 985 acres around main railway station in the heart of the city has been chosen for the project.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream “Smart Cities” project threw up a range of vision statements with majority aiming to be clean, green and economic growth drivers.
Naidu also said the winners were from 11 states and the Union territory of Delhi and the selection was objective and transparent based on standardized processes. “A total investment of Rs 50,802 crore has been proposed in the selected smart cities and towns during the five-year period”, he said.
6 Karnataka cities feature in the list of 97 cities from the country, namely- Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi and Davanagere.
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Incentivizing infrastructure development would lead to higher private participation in the formation of smart cities, he said, adding that the shortlisted cities would require to fine-tune and detail their proposals to establish their efficacy and begin implementation.
