Aurangabad bags spot in top eight cities

Aurangabad, Aug 26:

The city of Aurangabad is among the eight cities selected for the next phase of the smart city mission. For the next phase, the Central finance commission in its report to the Central government, has recommended allotment of Rs 1,000 crore each to the eight selected cities in the country including Aurangabad.

During the union budget session in Loksabha, the union urban development department's 15th finance commission has clarified that the city is one among the eight cities. Aurangabad was included in the measures of work done under the Smart City mission. The funds of Rs 1,000 crore will be allotted under Greenfield by the commission. The city of Nashik has also been included in the list. The Central government had announced the smart city project in June 25, 2015. A total of 100 cities were selected in four rounds. The city was included in the second round. A fund of Rs 1,000 crore was proposed for each city. The 50 per cent share was to be borne by the Centre, 25 per cent by the state government and the remaining 25 per cent by the local bodies. Projects like Smart city bus, Safari Park, MSI project, GIS mapping are being implemented under smart city. The city will get even smarter if Rs 1,000 crore is made available by the finance commission in the next five years. It is possible to consider a new proposal regarding the expansion of the fringe area and a new development plan.

No official orders have been received

Municipal administrator Astik Kumar Pandey said, "It is welcome that the 15th finance commission has given an additional Rs 1,000 crore for the smart city. It is also an acknowledgement of the works done under the smart city project. But no official orders in this regard have been received yet.

Commission's recommendations

The commission in its recommendation has focused on housing and infrastructure issues in the urban areas. As the trend towards urbanisation increases, new cities need to be built. Only 8 cities have been selected on an experimental basis, depending on the conditions of establishment, land acquisition and rehabilitation of the Greenfield cities. It is possible for the cities to receive grants over the next five years.