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The government on Monday informed Rajya Sabha that it has, at present, no proposal under consideration to include additional cities under the ambitious Smart Cities Mission.
The government was asked whether it has any plan to select and develop another 100 new cities as Smart Cities apart from those 100 Smart Cities which were selected earlier. "At present, there is no proposal under consideration of the Central Government to extend the existing SCM by including additional cities," MoS Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said in his written reply in the upper house of the Parliament. Under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), the central Government has a total outlay of Rs 48,000 crore for the 100 cities. As on November 11, 2024, a total fund amounting to Rs 88,177 crore has been released to States/UTs under SCM, out of which Rs 82,351 crore has been utilized. Under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), work orders have been issued in 8,066 projects amounting to Rs 164,669 crore, of which 7,352 projects (91 per cent of total projects) amounting to Rs 147,366 crore have been completed, as per the data provided by 100 Smart Cities. Remaining 714 projects amounting to Rs 17,303 crore are currently in implementation stage, the ministry apprised the upper house through his written reply. The central government views high urbanization as an opportunity towards aspirations of faster economic development. However, there are challenges. The challenges encountered in implementing smart city projects include, inter alia, legal issues, delay in obtaining clearances from different departments, land acquisition, construction in hilly areas, challenges in vendor and resource availability in small and medium cities, centralization of decision making in few cities, among others. The Smart Cities Mission was launched on June 25, 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aims to enhance the quality of life in 100 selected cities by providing efficient services, robust infrastructure, and a sustainable environment. (ANI)
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