JOIN USBengaluru is among 30 cities on a list of ‘smart cities’ announced on Friday under an ambitious Central government project to enhance liveability in urban centres.
So far, six cities in Karnataka — Hubballi-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Davangere and Belagavi — have found their place in the Smart City Mission.
With Friday’s announcement, a total of 90 cities have been identified under the scheme and 10 more will be chosen soon, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said here. The announcement marks the culmination of the third round of selection.
Launched on June 15, 2015, the scheme plans to develop 100 smart cities by 2022.
Kerala on top
Of the total 45 cities, 30 were selected in this round of city-level competition. Bengaluru bagged the 14th place while Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala topped the list.
Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh and Rajkot in Gujarat bagged the second and third positions respectively.
Four cities in Tamil Nadu — Tiruppur, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tiruchirappalli, and three in Uttar Pradesh — Jhansi, Allahabad and Aligarh — also made it to the list.
A total investment of Rs. 57,393 crore is required to make these 30 cities smart. This includes Rs 46,879 crore for core infrastructure development and Rs 10,514 crore for technology-based solutions for improving governance.
With this, the total investment approved for 90 cities has gone up to Rs. 1.91 lakh crore, Naidu said.
Under the Smart Cities Mission, the Ministry of Urban Development provides Rs 500 crore for each city over five years, with states matching the contribution.
The rest of the resources will come from loans, public private partnerships, and convergence of various schemes of Central and state governments, besides urban local bodies.