Miles and miles to go...For Indian cities to be truly smart!

S.K.Khanna
The last few years have witnessed pragmatic policies to bring about an urban renaissance in the country through innovative initiatives in urban development. On the top of such initiatives is the government's flagship scheme, "Smart Cities Mission", launched in 2015, releasing guidelines and mission statement for 100 smart cities projects. 9 more cities to be funded under Smart Cities Mission, have been announced. The mission has been allocated Rs.48,000 crore for five years till 2020. Projects will be undertaken through formation of smart city SPVs. So far, only 58 SPVs have been formed and the process for creating more SPVs is underway.
Prime objective of this scheme is creation of an efficient urban infrastructure in 100 cities by 2020 and modernize the same with high-speed Internet, uninterrupted power and water supply, efficient transport, and infuse a living standard comparable to the best in the world.
Why the need for the Mission?