M'rashtra earmarks Rs 400-cr for left out cities

Ensuring balanced development in cities across the state, the Maharashtra government has set aside an annual funds worth Rs. 400 crore for the eight cities that lost out on being included in the Centre's Smart Cities list, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, adding that the Union government selected Pune and Solapur from Maharashtra among the first 20 cities that would receive aid for being developed as smart cities. However, others such as Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad and Nashik could not make into the cut in the first round. The Centre will pick more cities for its project over the next few years, but in Maharashtra, the government has decided to step in and accelerate their growth. The state will provide funds to implement the smart-city plans of the eight municipal corporations left out in the Centre's first round. Under the scheme, while the Centre provides funds to implement smart-city proposals, the respective state governments and municipal corporations are also supposed to contribute an equal amount, said official sources.