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Under the 'Smart City' programme, it has been hard work for cities to be identified for funding purposes. Union minister for urban development Venkaiah Naidu released the list of top 20 Smart Cities out of the shortlisted 98 that would be the first to get funds. Bhubhaneswar, Pune and Jaipur are the top three cities. The 20 cities are spread across 11 states and New Delhi's posh NDMC area.
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1. The majority of the cities are tier II cities. Among metropolitan cities, only Chennai, NDMC (New Delhi) and Ahmedabad have made the cut. There are five state capitals – Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar – in the list. Madhya Pradesh leads with three cities – Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur – that have made the cut. Six other states – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karanataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu – have two cities each. (PTI)
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2. The next two years will see another 40 and 38 cities being identified to get funding under the Smart City programme. (PTI)
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3. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh are among the states that do not have even one city in the list.
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4. It has not been an easy process to be listed among the top 20 cities. First state governments had to identify entities that they wanted to be tagged as a 'Smart City'. The parameters considered include the size of the city, its population, current level of infrastructure and the potential to upgrade. Based on the state recommendations, the Centre approved potential cities. The cities had to come up with a plan. This included an area development plan where the programme would be rolled out and an overall plan.
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5. It is based on these plans that the 20 cities have been identified. Making the announcement, Venkaiah Naidu said: "Implementation of smart cities plan will showcase integrated planning. The investment of Rs 50,802 crore has been proposed in selected smart cities and towns during the five-year period." (Reuters)
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