MoUD to announce next set of Smart Cities by June end

The Ministry of Urban Development will announce the next set cities for central funding under the government???s flagship scheme???Smart City Mission by June-end.

A total of 45 cities have participated in the third round of Smart City challenge, of which 40 will be selected to be developed as smart cities.

The mission is aimed at developing 100 smart cities across the country in a five-year period. The government has earmarked Rs 48,000 crore for the development of these cities.

Under the programme, each selected city will be given Rs 500 crore over a period of five years by the Centre with the respective states expected to make the matching contribution.

So far, 60 cities have been selected for the scheme and the remaining 40 cities would be announced by June end, an official said.

The ministry is also preparing a report card on its Smart City Mission as the scheme is set to complete two years of its launch this June.

The government has so far approved smart city plans worth Rs 1.33 lakh crore for the 60 cities. The first batch of 20 cities was announced in January, 13 cities in May and 27 in September last year.

Source: Urbannewsdigest