No time extension beyond Dec 15 for Smart City plans

The Centre on Tuesday said there will be no extension of the deadline beyond December 15 for submission of Smart City plans by respective urban local bodies and states.

In a meeting with principal secretaries of state urban development departments and municipal commissioners of different states, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu refused to oblige the states’ request of giving more time and asked all the mission cities to adhere to the time line.

The meeting was convened to discuss with the officials of states and mission cities the actions being undertaken for preparation of the smart city plans.

So far, 98 cities from all the states and Union Territories have been included in the Smart City Mission, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June. The first round of selection of 98 cities was made based on a competition among various urban local bodies in each state, based on a set of criteria.

In the second stage of ‘City Challenge’ competition, 20 top-scoring mission cities will be selected from among the 98 city-level Smart City plans to be received by December 15, for financing during the current financial year.