Smart Cities Mission

Smart Cities Mission
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of Smart Cities Mission, Pune; June 2016
Country	India
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Ministry	MoUD
Key people	Venkaiah Naidu
Launched	2015
Funding	₹98,000 crore (US$15 billion)
Status: Active

Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with a mission to develop 100 cities (the target has been revised to 109 cities) all over the country making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for implementing the mission in collaboration with the state governments of the respective cities. The Government has a vision of developing 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities by modernizing the existing mid-sized cities.

Smart Cities Awas Yojna Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015. A total of ₹980 billion (US$15 billion) has been approved by the Indian Cabinet for development of 100 smart cities and rejuvenation of 500 others. ₹48,000 crore (US$7.1 billion) for the Smart Cities mission and a total funding of ₹50,000 crore (US$7.4 billion) for the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) has been approved by the Cabinet.

In the 2014 Union budget of India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated ₹7,016 crore (US$1.0 billion) for the 150 smart cities. However, only ₹9.24 billion (US$140 million) could be spent out of the allocated amount till February 2015. Hence, the 2015 Union budget of India allocated only ₹1.43 billion (US$21 million) for the project.

First batch of 20 cities selected in the second stage of competition will be provided with central assistance of ₹2 billion (US$30 million) each during this financial year followed by ₹1 billion (US$15 million) per year during the next three years. The remaining money has to come from the states, urban bodies and the consortium that they form with corporate entities. Also, 10 per cent of budget allocation will be given to states / union territories as incentive based on achievement of reforms during the previous year.