Smart Cities Mission gets second extension until June 2024

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has extended the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) for the second time by a year, until June 2024, officials said.

"We received requests from cities and Members of Parliament to give more time to complete the sanctioned projects," an official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched SCM in June 2015, with 100 cities chosen in two stages. The first phase of work under it was supposed to be completed by June 2021.

In 2021, the mission was extended until June 30, 2023, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a delay in the project's completion. "The cities were chosen in two stages, and development work or project implementation began at least 18 months after the selection process because cities had to first form Special Purpose Vehicles and meet other requirements," a second official explained.

According to the ministry's February report to Parliament, 7,804 projects worth 1,81,322 crore have been sanctioned under the mission in 100 cities. According to the ministry, 72% of the projects worth 1,07,000 crore are expected to be completed by April 30, 2023.

All 100 cities now have Integrated Command and Control Centres for data-centric solutions and improving municipal services as part of the mission. In 53 smart cities, 232 infrastructure development projects worth 15,006 crore have been undertaken, including multi-modal transport hubs, multi-level car parking, bike sharing, and so on.

The mission has been allocated 8000 crore for the years 2023-24. According to officials, the budgetary allocation is sufficient to complete the projects that have been sanctioned.

So far, 1104 smart mobility projects worth 22,785 crore have been completed as part of the mission, with 526 projects in advanced stages of development. Similarly, 984 public spaces in cities have been built at a cost of 5861 crore. Work is currently underway to create 343 more such spaces.

According to a third official, the cities were chosen in two stages and the process was completed in June 2018. It took cities time to form the Special Purpose Vehicles and plan projects. The development work in most cities is in the advanced stages.

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