Budget 2020: India To Have Five New Smart Cities

Under the Supply Chain Management (SCM), around 100 smart cities have been shortlisted in four rounds, on the basis of an India competition. These 100 cities are being incorporated with Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).

In her second Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed the setting up of five new Smart Cities. However, she didn’t make any mention of the Budgetary allocation here.

Fiscal Allotment in 2019

Last year in 2019, the Government had allocated around INR. 6,450 crore for the Smart Cities Mission for 2019-2020, as against INR. 6,169 crore in 2018-19. This is about 4.5 percent more than that of the amount set last year.

In 2018, the Government had proposed more than 50 percent increase in the allocation for smart cities in Budget 2018 from INR. 4,000 crore for 2017-18 to INR. 6,169 crore for 2018-19.

Also, under the SCM, there have been 100 Smart Cities that were selected in four rounds based on an all India competition. These cities have incorporated Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).

How Have Smart Cities Been Faring?

Ever since the launch of the mission, there have been a total of 5,151 projects that have been identified for the implementation by cities that are more than 2 lakhs worth. These are in various stages of implementation in the 100 cities.

The value of the tendered smart city projects that is over INR. 1,62.000 crore, as per the statistics, that was available by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, The value of work orders have been issued at around INR. 1,20,000 crore, and the value of completed projects is more than INR. 25,000 crore.

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Growth Over The Days

Reports have stated that there have been a growth of around 223 percent in the number of projects tendered. Out of this, a growth of around 285 percent has been seen in the projects grounded, and around 387 percent growth in the number of projects completed.

In order to boost the implementation of Smart City Projects through peer-to-peer learning. The first Apex Conference of al Smart Cities was being organised in Bhopal in May 2018. This was followed by the 2nd Apex Conference at New Delhi in February 2019. The 3rd Apex Conference was recently held at in January 2020, at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

What About The Inception Of Smart Cities?

June 2015 first saw the inception of The Smart Cities Mission. There was a list of first 20 cities that were being announced in 2016. This was followed by a track list of 13 cities, and further followed by 27 cities. The final list was announced in January 2018, after adding a list of 30 cities.

As of now, the Centre allocates INR. 500 crore to each of the cities, in order to implement the projects proposed by it. Now, the focus is on tackling problems faced in urban areas like transportation, energy supply, governance, basic urban infrastructure services, and overall quality of life.

The long term aim is to provide technology solutions, like that of the surveillance systems, in order to reduce crime and also improve the safety of residents. Mostly, projects related to e-governance, mobility, integrated traffic management, and solid waste management.

Budget 2020 Allocates INR. 6,000 Crore For BharatNet

While reading the Budget today, FM Nirmala Sitharaman had announced INR.6,000 crores for BharatNet, in order to digitise 1 lakh Gram Panchayats in 2020. The Government wants the Gram Panchayats to be digitised, even at the Gram Panchayat level, as a part of Digital India.

Funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), BharatNet was set up to improve telecom services in rural and remote regions of India. It also looks forward to providing digital services like e-governance, e-health, e-education, and e-banking among others.

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