On June 25, 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the commencement of the Smart Cities Mission and Smart City List. The project aims to raise Indians' living standards and economic prosperity. With this program, the government hopes to improve living conditions in 100 cities and towns.

What is the Smart Cities Mission?

The Indian government's Smart Cities Mission strives to improve the quality of life for residents of cities and towns through the use of information, digital technologies, and greater public-private partnerships. On June 25, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched the "smart city mission." The Union Ministry of Urban Development handles this initiative. In addition, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) overseen by a CEO is established in each state to take care of Smart City project execution. Smart Cities mission will be funded to success with a budget of Rs. 7,20,000 crore.

Key Highlights of the Smart Cities Mission

Cities: 100
Total projects: 7,742
Total cost of projects: Rs. 1,81,561 Cr.
Completed projects to date: 5,002
Cost of completed projects: Rs. 92, 561 Cr.
Ongoing Projects: 2,740
The cost involved in ongoing projects: Rs. 89,000 Cr.

Recent Updates Regarding The Smart Cities Mission

As per the latest reports on the Smart Cities Mission India, a significant number of the initially designated 100 cities, precisely 66, have not achieved their prescribed objectives even after eight years. Consequently, the mission's completion deadline has been extended to July 2024. Presently, the overall progress stands at 72%, with smaller cities successfully implementing two-thirds of the projects. Notably, the completion rate for larger cities exceeds 80%, while smaller counterparts are at 66%. Monthly, approximately 100 projects, totalling Rs 1,850 crore, are being accomplished.

The Agra Smart City leverages AI to identify potholes, traffic violations, instances of sexual activity, wandering animals, and clogged manholes and concurrently monitors solid waste disposal.
Amritsar Urban Water and Wastewater Management Limited officials assert the implementation of a 24x7 canal water project.
Currently, repair work is underway for 80 roads in Lucknow.
Embracing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's waste-to-wealth vision, the Coimbatore Smart City Mission focuses on long-standing waste issues.

Features of Smart Cities Mission

Diversified Land Usage: The Mission encourages diversified land use by the area available. This means giving the states more latitude to modify their bylaws. The implementation of environmental protections will be handled, though.
Increased housing options: Housing is one of the essential prerequisites for the expansion of the Smart Cities Mission. For smart cities to serve big and low-income communities, more housing initiatives are necessary.
Better Responsibility towards Environment: The Smart City Mission objectives include reducing traffic, ensuring security, lowering air pollution, and fostering community contact and local commerce.
Improved Standard of Living: Another goal is to build playgrounds, parks, open gyms, and other leisure areas. The goal of this is to improve the standard of living for Indian residents in future cities.
Better Transportation Options: TOD (transit-oriented development) and public transportation are promoted in smart cities of the future as additional convenient transportation options.
Online Services: More online services in smart towns are introduced to increase accountability and openness towards the government. For instance, a citizen can visit a website online rather than the municipal offices.
Smart Solutions: The smart city IOT identity is centred on the fields of education, health, sports, local cuisine, culture, art, and furniture, among other things. Smart solutions are gradually being applied to infrastructure and services.

Smart Solution of Smart Cities Mission

Smart City solution is being deployed as part of the mission for the fundamental infrastructure, including:

Public information and grievance redressal
Electronic service delivery
Citizens-city’s eye and ear
Video crime monitoring
Citizen engagement
Waste to compost
Waste of energy and fuel
Every drop to be treated
Treatment of C&D waste
Smart meters and management for water and electricity
Leakage identification
Water quality monitoring

Funding of the Smart City Mission in India

The Smart City Mission receives an allocation of Rs 7,20,000 crore from the government. Each city, on average, is slated to receive Rs 100 crore over five years. The scheme operates under a 50:50 model, termed the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), where the central government contributes Rs 50 crore, matched by an equal contribution from the state government or Union Territories.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the success ratio of Smart City Mission?

Ans: 66% of projects have been completed so far.

2. What number of cities are involved in the Smart City Mission?

Ans: The Smart City Mission involves 100 cities in all. Except for West Bengal, all of India's states are taking part in the scheme.

Smart Cities' Mission and Importance for Home Buyers

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