First batch of 20 smart cities in India announced

28th January 2016
First  batch of  20 smart cities in India announced
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, M. Venkaiah Naidu announcing the winners of first round of ‘Smart City Challenge Competition’, at a press conference, in New Delhi on January 28, 2016. The Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Madhusudhan Prasad, the Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, A.P. Frank Noronha and other dignitaries are also seen.

 New Delhi, January  28 2016: The Government today announced the 20 winners of the Smart City Challenge competition for financing during this financial year. Announcing the cities here today, Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu said that the winners were from 11 States and the Union Territory of Delhi.He also observed that it was for the first time in the country and even in the world that investments in urban sector are being made based on competition based selection of cities.

Three cities from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from the remaining five made it to the winning list.

The 23 States and UTs who could not make to the list of winners will be given an opportunity to participate in a ‘fast track competition’. Each top ranking city form these left out states can upgrade their smart city proposals and submit them by April 15, this year for inclusion in the mission.

The 20 winning cities and towns have proposed a total investment of Rs.50,802 crore over five years with all the cities proposing Public-Private-Partnership as a major vehicle of resource mobilization. 10 of the 20 cities have proposed to mobilise Rs.8,521 crore under PPP model while others have also indicated this option. A total area of 26,735 acres has been identified by these cities for making them smart through necessary interventions.

The Top Twenty
1    Bhubaneswar    Odisha       
2    Pune    Maharashtra       
3    Jaipur    Rajasthan       
4.    Surat    Gujarat       
5    Kochi    Kerala       
6    Ahmedabad    Gujarat       
7    Jabalpur    Madhya Pradesh       
8    Visakhapatnam    Andhra Pradesh       
9    |Solapur    Maharashtra       
10    Davanagere    Karnataka       
11    Indore    MP       
12    New Delhi Municipal Council    Delhi       
13    Combattore    Tamil Nadu       
14    Kakinada    Andhra Pradesh       
15    Belagavi    Karnataka       
16    Udaipur    Rajasthan       
17    Guwahati    Assam       
18    Chennai    Tamil Nadu       
19    Ludhiana    Punjab       
20    Bhopal    MP