Surat Tops List For Smart City Completion; Agra And Ahmedabad Follow, While UTs And NE Cities Lag Behind

According to The Indian Express, as the June 2024 deadline for the Smart Cities Mission draws near, cities in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan are leading the way in terms of project completion and financial progress.

On the other hand, cities in the northeastern states and Union territories are among the underperformers out of the 100 cities included in the mission.

According to data from the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry as of 3 November, approximately 22 per cent of total projects (1,745 out of 7,947), accounting for 33 per cent of the total cost (Rs 57,028 crore out of Rs 1.70 lakh crore), are still a work in progress.

As of 10 November, Surat in Gujarat ranked first in terms of project completion, fund use, and other criteria, followed by Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, completing the top five.

Tumakuru in Karnataka, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Kota in Rajasthan, and Shivamogga in Karnataka make up the top 10 cities list.

The bottom 10 cities in terms of progress in the Smart Cities Mission are Kavaratti, Puducherry, Port Blair, Imphal, Shillong, Diu, Guwahati, Aizawl, Gangtok, and Pasighat.

Officials have expressed optimism that the ongoing projects will be completed by the extended deadline of June 2024.

Launched in 2015, the Smart Cities Mission aimed to transform 100 selected cities within a five-year timeframe.