Informist, Wednesday, Jul 3, 2024

NEW DELHI – The government has extended the 'Smart Cities Mission' for urban development till Mar 31, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said in a release today. Announced in June 2015, the mission aimed at redeveloping 100 cities between June 2015 and June 2023. Last year, the government extended the deadline by another year to June 2024.

"This extension has been informed to the cities that it would be without any additional cost, beyond the already approved financial allocation under the Mission. All ongoing projects are now expected to be completed before 31 March 2025," the ministry said. This extension is after repeated requests by a few states and cities to grant some more time to complete the 10% projects which are yet to be completed.

The total outlay for the plan was 1.6 trln rupees, of which 1.44 trln rupees is already spent, with 90% of projects completed out of the 7,188 identified projects under the plan, the release said.

"These balance ongoing projects are in advanced stage of implementation and got delayed due to various on-ground conditions. It is in the interest of people, that these projects get complete and contribute towards the ease of living in their urban area," it said. The balance 10% projects, or 830 projects, have an outlay of nearly 200 bln rupees.

Of the total money spent on the plan, the central government has spent 466 bln rupees of the 480 bln rupee allocation earmarked for the plan. Out of these central government funds released to the cities, 93% have been utilised as of today.

Projects under this plan are multi-sectoral and include infrastructure like multi-modal transport hubs, common mobility cards, multi-level car parking and public bike sharing. End

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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