Smart City yet to gain
momentum!
New Delhi:
The ambitious project of developing 100 Smart Cities in India launched by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi two and half years back i.e. in June 2015, is yet to
gain momentum. Smart City Mission is not implemented in several states with
expected speed including 7 cities in Karnataka.
Out of the Rs. 9,860 crore
released to 60 cities under the Smart City Mission only seven per cent, or
about Rs. 645 crore, has been utilised so far, an issue which has raised
concerns in the Urban Affairs Ministry.
Of the Rs. 196 crore released to
each of around 40 cities, Ahmedabad has spent the maximum amount of Rs. 80.15
crore, followed by Indore (Rs 70.69 crore), Surat (Rs 43.41 crore) and Bhopal
Rs. 42.86 crore, according to a data of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.
On the other hand, the data revealed that of the sanctioned funds Andaman and
Nicobar could utilise only Rs. 54 lakh, Ranchi 35 lakh, and Aurangabad Rs. 85
lakh.
A HUA official recently said the
ministry was concerned about the “unsatisfactory” progress of the project in
some of the cities. He had said the ministry would approach the cities that are
lagging behind to find out the “bottlenecks” with an aim for speedy
implementation of the projects.
Among the cities which got around
Rs. 111 crore each from the Centre, Vodadara has spent Rs. 20.62 crore, Namchi
in Sikkim spent Rs. 6.80 crore, while Salem, Vellore and Thanjavur in Tamil
Nadu could utilise only Rs. 5 lakh, Rs. 6 lakh and Rs. 19 lakh, respectively.
Ninety cities have so far been
selected by the government under the smart city mission and each of them will
get Rs. 500 crore as central assistance for implementing various projects. The
cities are required to set up Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to get funds from
the Centre for the implementation of the project.
In a review meeting recently, the
official said cities in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
were found to be “performing well”, while those in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra needed to speed up the implementation
process.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of
State (independent charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, had earlier this
month said the impact of projects undertaken under the scheme would be visible
by mid next year. To instill competition among cities and push them for faster
implementation of projects, the Centre would also present ‘Smart City awards’
in June next year to well performing cities.
Reviewing the progress of the
Smart City Mission on August 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the
challenge before everyone was to ensure implementation and expeditious
completion of the work in the 90 identified cities.
Bengaluru, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hubli- Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shivamogga
and Tumakuru Cities of Karnataka were celected by Cenre for Smart Cities.
The details of amount released
and spent in Karnataka’s smart Cities are as follows: Bengaluru – Release Rs.100
Crore, Spent Rs.00, Percentage 000,
Belagavi – Release Rs. 400 Crore, Spent Rs.5 Crore, Percentage 1.25, Hubli –Dharwad
– Release Rs. 269 Crore, Spent Rs. 4.47 Crore, Percentage 1.66, Davanagere-
Release Rs.394 Crores, Spent Rs. 10 Crores, Percentage 2.53, Tumkuru- Release
Rs.261 Crore, Spent Rs.24.82 Crores, Percentage 9.50, Shivamogga – Release Rs. 200 Crore, Spent Rs.35 Crore, Percentage 17.5,
Mangaluru- Release Rs. 300 Crores, Spent Rs.100 Crore, Percentage 33.3,
Total – Release Rs. 1924 Crores, Spent Rs.179.29 Crores, Percentage 9.31.
Total – Release Rs. 1924 Crores, Spent Rs.179.29 Crores, Percentage 9.31.
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