The Union Cabinet on 29 April 2015 gave its nod for Smart Cities Mission with an outlay of 48000 crore rupees over the next five years (2015-16 to 2019-20).
Besides, the Cabinet also approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) of 500 cities with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next five years.
The aim of these two missions is to make urban areas more livable and inclusive besides driving the economic growth.
Features of Smart Cities Mission
Purpose
To build 100 smart cities across the country by promoting smart solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure with the objective of enhancing the quality of urban life and providing a clean and sustainable environment.
Focus
The focus of the mission will be on core infrastructure services like Adequate and clean Water supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Efficient Urban Mobility and Public Transportation, Affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, Governance, especially e-governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment.
Selection Criteria
Funding
Each selected city would get central assistance of 100 crore rupees per year for five years a cumulative amount of 48000 crore rupees allocated for the mission
Implementation
Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to be created for each city and state governments will ensure steady stream of resources for SPVs.
Approach
- The mission adopts area based approach consisting of retrofitting, redevelopment, pan-city initiatives and development of new cities.
- Under Retrofitting, deficiencies in an identified area will be addressed through necessary interventions as in the case of Local Area Plan for downtown Ahmedabad.
- Redevelopment enables reconstruction of already built-up area that is not amenable for any interventions, to make it smart, as in the case of Bhendi Bazar of Mumbai and West Kidwai Nagar in New Delhi.
- Pan-city initiatives could be interventions like Intelligent Transport Solutions which benefit residents by reducing commuting time.
