MoHUA Extends The Smart Cities Mission Deadline By One Year To Ensure Completion Of All Pending Projects

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has decided to extend the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) by a year till June 2024, for the completion of the pending work, as per officials said.

 “We received requests from cities and Members of Parliament to give more time to complete the sanctioned projects,” said an official.

This would be the second extension for the flagship mission, which was launched on 25 June 2015.

PM Narendra Modi launched Smart Cities Mission in 2015 — under which 100 cities were selected to proceed in two stages. The first stage was to be done by June 2021.

Previously in 2021, the mission was extended till 30 June 2023 — following delays in the timely completion of the project because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The cities were selected in two stages and the development work or project implementation started at least 18 months after the selection process as cities had to first form Special Purpose Vehicles and meet other requirements,” said another official, as per a Hindustan Times report.

Mission's Progress

As of February 2023, the ministry informed Parliament that 7,804 projects worth Rs 181,322 crore had been approved for 100 cities under the mission.

Out of these, the ministry stated that 72 per cent of the projects — worth Rs 107,000 crore — were expected to be finished by 30 April 2023.

Over 66 per cent projects in small cities, and over 80 per cent projects in the metros have been completed, reports Economic Times.

The mission for 2023-24 has been allotted Rs 8,000 crore. Officials say this amount is enough for the completion of all authorised projects.

All 100 cities have set up Integrated Command and Control Centres to enhance municipal services and data-centric solutions for the mission.

Additionally, 53 smart cities have initiated 232 projects worth Rs 15,006 crore aimed at infrastructural development such as multi-modal transport hub, multi-level car parking, bike sharing, amongst others.

As part of the mission, the smart mobility mission has completed 1104 projects, valued at Rs 22,785 crore, and has 526 projects in advanced stages of development.

Additionally, 984 public spaces have been developed for Rs 5,861 crore, with work in progress for another 343 such spaces.