Taking cognizance of the requests from some states/ city government representatives to grant some more time to complete the balance 10% of the on-going projects in smart cities, the Government of India has extended the Smart Cities Mission period upto 31 March 2025, the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) said in a press release on Wednesday.This extension has been informed to the cities that it would be without any additional cost, beyond the already approved financial allocation under the Mission. All ongoing projects are now expected to be completed before 31 March 2025.
The Smart Cities Mission is a novel experiment in India’s urban development. Since its inception in June 2015, the mission has attempted several innovative ideas such as competition among cities for selection of 100 smart cities, stakeholder driven project selection, formation of smart city special purpose vehicles for implementation, deployment of technology and digital solutions for improving urban governance, third-party impact evaluation by premier academic and professional institutes, etc.
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Each of the 100 cities have developed a diverse set of projects, many of which very unique and being implemented for the first time, thus improving the cities’ capability and experience and achieving larger transformational goals at the city level. More than 8,000 multi-sectoral projects are being developed by the 100 cities amounting to around ₹1.6 lakh crore, the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
As on July 3, 2024, the 100 smart cities have completed 7,188 projects (90% of total projects) amounting to ₹1,44,237 crore as part of the mission. The balance 830 projects amounting to ₹19,926 crore are also in advanced stages of completion. On the financial progress, the mission has an allocated GOI budget of ₹48,000 crore for the 100 cities. As on date, GOI has released ₹46,585 crore (97% of the allocated GOI budget) to 100 cities. Out of these funds released to the cities, 93% have been utilized as on date. The mission has also released full GOI financial support under the mission to 74 out of 100 cities, the ministry said.
The mission has been getting multiple requests from some states/city government representatives, to grant some more time to complete the balance 10% projects. These balance ongoing projects are in advanced stage of implementation and got delayed due to various on-ground conditions. It is in the interest of people, that these projects get complete and contribute towards the ease of living in their urban areas, it added.
