Second list of smart cities to be out mid-August

The winners of the second round of the government’s flagship 100 smart cities mission will be announced by the end of this month.

The government will select up to 27 cities in this round.

A senior official in the Ministry of Urban Development told

BusinessLine that “the three teams which were constituted by the Centre to evaluate earlier received proposals are currently evaluating the plans submitted by the cities for the second round. We are expecting the list to be ready after Independence Day.”

“We will select less than 27 cities if proposals are not at par with those received in the previous round,” the official added.

While 20 cities were given the smart city tag in January, the Centre in May had added 13 more cities to this list via a fastrack round conducted to offer an opportunity to the highest ranked city in 23 States and UTs which could not feature in the first round.

Aspirants for the second round of smart cities mission had submitted revised plans by June end. Those among the 23 cities which could not win the fast track competition were able to join this second round of competition.

Operated as a centrally sponsored scheme, the Centre has proposed to financial support of ₹48,000 crore over five years.

Under the mission, the Centre will provide an assistance of ₹500 crore for each city while the respective States and urban local bodies will provide an equal amount. Rest of the required resources have to be mobilised through convergence of all schemes of central and state governments, PPP, Municipal Bonds and borrowings from financial institutions.

The project intends to promote adoption of smart solutions to enhance the quality of urban life and provide a clean and sustainable environment.