Prime minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet on Wednesday cleared 100 Smart City projects and Atal mission for rejuvenation and urban transformation of 500 cities. The government will spend around one lakh crore on urban development under two new urban missions over the next five years. The cabinet has approved both the projects of Rs.48,000 crore and Rs.50,000 crore respectively.

"The cabinet approval for 100 Smart cities and rejuvenation of 500 cities is very timely. It will not only lay out the path for more livable cities in India and improve the economic competitiveness, but also provide the desperately needed growth engine for the Indian and global economy," said Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner, Infrastructure and Government Services, KPMG India.

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The Smart City project was announced in July 2014 in the government's maiden budget session. This is an initiative by the Modi government to take the pressure off the metro cities.

Selection of Smart Cities

Under the Smart Cities project, each selected city would get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years. Smart City aspirants will be selected through a ‘City Challenge Competition’ intended to link financing with the ability of the cities to perform to achieve the mission objectives. Each state will shortlist a certain number of smart city aspirants as per the norms to be indicated and they will prepare smart city proposals for further evaluation for extending central support.

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The motive of building Smart Cities is to promote adoption of smart solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure with the objective of enhancing the quality of urban life and providing a clean and sustainable environment. Special emphasis will be given to participation of citizens in prioritizing and planning urban interventions.


Focus area

The focus will be on core infrastructure services including sufficient water supply, sanitation and proper waste management system, availability of adequate urban mobility and public transportation, affordable housing for the poor, power supply, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment.

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Atal mission for rejuvenation and urban transformation

The two missions are interlinked. AMRUT adopts a project approach to ensure basic infrastructure services relating to water supply, sewerage, management, storm water drains, transport and development of green spaces and parks with special provision for meeting the needs of children. Implementation of this Mission will be linked to promotion of urban reforms such as e-governance, constitution of professional municipal cadre, devolving funds and functions to urban local bodies, review of Building bye-laws, improvement in assessment and collection of municipal taxes, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit and citizen-centric urban planning.

The Atal mission for rejuvenation and urban transformation will be implemented in 500 cities and towns each with a population of one lakh and above, some cities situated on stems of main rivers, a few capital cities and important cities located in hilly areas, islands and tourist areas.

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Under this Mission, states will get the flexibility of designing schemes based on the needs of identified cities and in their execution and monitoring.