Government to announce name of another 27 cities to be developed as smart cities

The government under its flagship Smart City Mission will be announcing the name of 27 more cities that will be developed as smart cities. The Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be announcing the third set of smart cities next week. 

Till now, the government has announced 33 cities, wherein 20 cities were announced in the first and another 13 in the supplementary round, the cities would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. In total, the government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years.

The minister said that this is the first time that 500 cities and towns undertook a comprehensive analysis of the infrastructure deficiencies and prepared a details action plan for this. The purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes.