India's urban future will draw on innovations nurtured in 100 smart cities: Hardeep Puri
May 23, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 23 : Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep S. Puri on Tuesday said India's urban future will draw heavily on innovations nurtured in 100 smart cities.
Hardeep S. Puri on Tuesday apprised the members of the consultative committee of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs about the progress of Smart Cities Mission (SCM) during a meeting on Monday evening.
He further stated the implementation of the Mission at city level is done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), playing an instrumental role in monitoring the projects to utilize the full potential of this path-breaking mission, according to a statement from the ministry of housing and urban affairs.
Smart Cities Mission launched on June 25, 2015, is aimed at providing core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of 'smart solutions'. Hundred cities selected through a two-stage competition to be developed as Smart Cities are showing satisfying progress, the ministry said.
Smart Cities Mission, monitored by an Apex Committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, regularly report the implementation status of projects through the Real Time Geographical Management Information System (GMIS).
According to SCM Statement and Guidelines, a Smart City Advisory Forum (SCAF) is established at the city level to advise and enable collaboration among various stakeholders. It consists of member(s) of Parliament, member(s) of legislative assembly, mayor, district collector, local youth, technical experts, other stakeholders, etc. All 100 smart cities have established their SCAFs. So far, the Smart Cities have convened more than 756 meetings of SCAF, according to the ministry statement.
Moreover, at state level, High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) chaired by the Chief Secretary has been established.
Besides, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs nominee directors on the boards of special purpose vehicle (SPVs) regularly monitor the progress in respective cities, the ministry added.
Furthermore, the Ministry regularly interacts with the states / smart cities through video conferences, review meetings, field visits, regional workshops, etc. at various levels to assess the performance of cities and to handhold them for improvement.
Further, the committee visited various project sites including 'Mandovi Riverfront Promenade', and Integrated Command and Control Centre in Goa and deliberated upon the current status and progress as on May 1, 2023 wherein it was highlighted that the Mission has around 7,800 projects worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore of which over 5,700 projects worth Rs 1.1 lakh crore (60 per cent by value) have been completed.
All remaining projects are expected to be completed by June 30, 2024. Also, it was outlined during the meeting that Rs 38,400 crore have been released under Smart Cities Mission up to May 1, 2023, out of which Rs 35,261 crore has been utilised.
The meeting chaired by Hardeep Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs MoHUA and Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for MoHUA; Members of Parliament from across the states, MVV Satyanarayana, AKP Chinraj, Ramesh Bidhuri, Sanjay Kaka Patil, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Kalpana Saini, Vandana Chauhan and other senior officials from the Ministry attended the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting, here last evening.
