The ministry of urban development has received some useful suggestions about the selection criteria for smart cities scheme. In a conference on the flagship scheme of the NDA government, urban development ministers and secretaries from states and union territories has urged the centre to include credit worthiness/rating of a city and narrowing down the population limit.

Few states demanded an incentive structure for better performers and a few wanted special statuses. States also proposed for a step by step implementation of the smart city scheme, contrary to the way Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission (JnNURM) was implemented. Proposal for affordable rental housing was also deliberated in the meeting.

Venkaiah Naidu, union minister for urban development, while addressing the states’ functionaries on Friday, emphasised on developing an economic model around smart cities to make them self-sustainable. He also said the budget for a smart city would be sanctioned after receiving a detailed plan from the state. “To make a smart project a reality, we have to marry all the contradiction and work together to achieve the goal,” Naidu said.

The ministry has given a deadline of one week to all states and UTs to submit their suggestions on the proposed parameters, thereafter draft will be refined and presented by the MoUD to prime minister Narendra Modi.

According to a draft concept note on the smart scheme released by the MoUD on September 12, the current list of parameters for selection of smart cities includes nine cities with one satellite city each with a population of four million people, 44 cities in the population range of 1-4 million people, all state UTs capital irrespective of population, 10 cities of tourist and religious importance, 20 cities with 0.5 to 1.0 million population.