Smart Cities float tenders for ₹1,62,908-cr projects

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri informed that the Smart Cities have tendered out 6,721 projects worth ₹1,88,507 crore as of January 21, 2022. Out of the 6,721 tendered projects, work orders have been issued in 6,124 projects involving an investment of ₹1,62,908 crore while 3,421 projects worth ₹58,735 crore have been completed. As of 21 January 2022, the Central Government has released ₹28,413.60 crore for 100 Smart Cities of which ₹23,668.27 crore (83 percent) has been utilized.

The Government had launched Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on 25 June 2015 under which 100 Smart Cities have been selected through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. As per SCM Guidelines, the Central Government is supposed to provide financial support to the extent of ₹48,000 crore over five years i.e., on an average ₹100 crore per city per year. An equal amount is contributed by the State Government/Urban Local Body (ULB). As of now, there is no proposal under consideration of the Government for adding more cities under SCM.