Smart city mission: 30 more names announced; Thiruvananthapuram, Naya Raipur, Rajkot top the list

The government has on Friday announced the fourth list of smart cities, adding 30 names to the existing 60 cities that are under transformation.

The Smart City Mission launched on 25 June 2015 now has 90 cities under it. The new batch of smart cities was announced by Minister of Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu at a national workshop on urban transformation.

Representational image. News18

Announcing the names, Naidu said 45 cities contested for 40 available smart city slots but only 30 were selected to ensure feasible and workable plans that match the aspirations of the citizens.

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, tops the list, followed by Naya Raipur (Chattisgarh), Rajkot (Gujarat), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) and Patna (Bihar).

Naidu said the 30 cities have proposed a total investment of Rs 57,393 crore, including Rs 46,879 crore for ensuring core infrastructure and Rs 10,514 cr for technology-based solutions.

With this the total investment approved under the smart city plans of 90 cities stands at Rs 1,91,155 crore.

The minister also said 20 cities will be contesting for the remaining 10 slots under smart city mission. These are Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Biharsharif (Bihar), Diu (Daman & Diu), Silvassa (Dadra and Nager Haveli), Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), Navimumbai, Greater Mumbai and Amaravati (Maharashtra), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Dindigul and Erode(Tamil Nadu), Bidhannagar, Durgapur and Haldia (West Bengal), Meerut, Rai Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Sharanpur and Rampur (UP).

According to the minister, the selection of cities for the scheme is running ahead of schedule and the remaining cities would submit revised smart city plans for filling up the vacant slots.

The government had announced the first batch of 20 cities on 28 January 2016, the second of 13 on 24 May 2016 and third of 27 on 20 September 2016.

Here is the list of 30 cities announced today:

Here's the list of 60 cities that are undergoing the transformation:

(Data contribution Kishor Kadam)

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