On 3rd July 2024, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India (GoI) announced that it has extended the deadline for the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) till 31st March 2025, allowing cities to complete ongoing projects, which account for around 10% of the total projects.
- As per MoHUA, these projects are in the advanced stage of implementation and got delayed due to various on-ground conditions.
Note: This for the 2nd time that the deadline for the SCM has been extended, which was earlier 30th June, 2024.
About Smart Cities Mission:
It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), launched by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi on 25th June 2015.
Aim: To promote sustainable and inclusive cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart Solutions’.
i.SCM has transformed 100 cities through more than 8,000 projects amounting approximately Rs 1.6 lakh crore.
ii.The implementation of the SCM is done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to be set up at city level in the form of a limited company under the Companies Act, 2013.
What is Smart City?
Smart City is modern area that uses information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance operational efficiency, share information with public and improve the quality of government services and citizens welfare.
Progress of Smart Cities Mission:
i.According to the official data of MoHUA, as on 3rd July 2024, 100 cities had completed 7,188 projects (90% of total projects) worth Rs 1.44 lakh crore.
- While, the remaining 830 projects worth Rs 19,926 crore were in advanced stages of completion.
ii.GoI has allocated Rs 48,000 crore for the 100 cities under SCM in Union Budget .
- As on 3rd July 2024, the GoI has disbursed Rs 46,585 crore, which is 97% of the allocated central government budget to the 100 cities, with 93% of these funds have been utilized as on date.
- Till now, 74 cities selected under the SCM have received 100% of their GoI contributions.
Problems Faced by SCM:
i.As per MoHUA, 26 cities out of the 100 smart cities are yet to receive 100% share of the funding from GoI as work on projects is still ongoing.
ii.At present, there are 8 cities in Union Territories (UTs) which are yet to receive 100% of the central funds include: Diu(Daman & Diu), Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir), Kavaratti(Lakshadweep), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Puducherry (Puducherry), Silvasa (Dadra & Nagar Haveli), Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NMDC) (Delhi).
- Other cities yet to receive full GoI funding are: Amritsar and Jalandhar (Punjab), Atal Nagar, Bilaspur and Raipur (Chhattisgarh); Biharsharif, Muzaffarpur and Patna (Bihar), Great Warangal and Karimnagar (Telangana); Dahod (Gujarat); Imphal (Manipur); Karnal (Haryana); Mangaluru (Karnataka); Namchi (Sikkim); Nashik (Maharashtra); and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh.)
iii.MoHUA informed the states and UTs that the remaining central funds would be released till 30th September, 2024, or earlier, on a first come first serve basis. So, they are required to expedite their proposals for fund release.
Note: As on February 2023, Karnataka(768 projects) topped the list of states with most completed projects followed by Madhya Pradesh(MP) with 577 projects, Uttar Pradesh with 553 projects.
About Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA):
Union Minister- Manohar Lal Khattar (Constituency- Karnal, Haryana)
Minister of State (MoS)- Tokhan Sahu (Constituency- Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh)
