Centre to provide Rs 48,000 crore financial support for Smart Cities Mission in 5 years

The Centre will provide Rs 48,000 crore financial support for the development of smart cities in the country, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore said on Monday.

The Centre launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on June 25, 2015. A hundred cities have been selected to develop as Smart Cities through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018.

As per the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) guidelines, the central government will provide financial support to the extent of Rs 48,000 crore over five years i.e., on an average Rs 100 crore per city per year. An equal amount on a matching basis will be contributed by the state government/urban local body (ULB), Kishore said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

As on July 8, 2022, the Government of India has released Rs 30,751.41 crore for 100 smart cities, out of which Rs 27,610.34 crore (90 per cent) has been utilised, the minister said.

As on July 8, 2022, these Smart Cities have tendered out 7,822 projects worth Rs 1,90,660 crore; work orders have been issued in 7,649 projects worth Rs 1,80,996 crore and 4,085 projects worth Rs 66,912 crore have been completed.

The period of implementation of SCM is upto June 2023 and all Smart Cities are expected to complete their projects within the stipulated time, the minister added.

( With inputs from ANI )