20 names in the maiden list of Smart Cities

Concept of smart cities has been under the purview of the Prime Minister for a significant time now. On January 28th, the plan took its first run, with 20 cities having qualified for contemporary development. This plan envisages participation and partnership of the central government, the state government, and also a PPP partnership model. In fact, it is a slight deviation from the typical NDMC style of execution to a corporate style of managing projects at different points.

The good news is, the already relished Lutyens Delhi has also made it to the first cut. Now, 550 acre of land in and around CP will be remodeled to suit the smart city concept. Consider this; the project will include pedestrianisation of inner circle, public electric vehicle, cloud based healthcare system, app for booking cycles, rooftop solar panels. It will be a complete new destination and experience, which will not only add visitor amenities, but also add convenience. A mobile app for booking cycles is for last mile connectivity since this is also a metro destination. Also, hawkers will be done away with on the pedestrian platform.

This is just one of the applications of a smart city concept. Broadly, the smart city league will include supply of 24×7 power and drinking water supply, and more attributes like development of IT infrastructure. Besides, affordable housing, e-governance is also on the agenda.

In the list released on January 28th, which was arrived at by running a contest, there were notable names like Navi Mumbai, Varanasi, UP, Bengal, and Bihar which failed to make it this time. The govt is likely to consider them in the next round in April.

A total budget of Rs 51,000 crore has been estimated for the purpose set for 20 cities initially. Of this, 10,000 crore will be provided by the centre.

Only kochi will witness the development of a green corridor under the smart city project. Bhubaneswar has scored top on the government contest, with a Rs 4,500-crore plan for the railway station with modern amenities.

The smart city model is based on two development modes— retrofit and redevelopment. While retrofitting will be focused on amending the deficiencies in identified areas, the redevelopment will include building up the areas.

Complete list includes, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, Solapur, Davangere, Indore, the New Delhi area, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belgaum, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal.