Amritsar tops the list of 27 cities announced in the second phase of the Smart Cities Mission. The list boasts of an electic mix of cities like Agra, Nagaland, Kohima, Hubli and Tripuati among others. It includes PM Modi’s constituency, Varanasi. Maharashtra got 5 of its cities on the list followed by 4 each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, 3 from Uttar Pradesh, 2 each from Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh while Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Sikkim and Nagaland got one each.

Here is the complete list in alphabetical order

This takes the total tally of smart cities to 60. The Centre had kick-started the Smart Cities Mission by announcing the first list of 20 cities in January this year and added another 13 to the count in May. Bhubaneswar topped the first list and was also the first to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to execute the pilot project.

With this announcement, a total investment of Rs 1, 44,742 crore has been proposed by these 60 cities under the smart city plan. The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Venkaiah Nadu said that the world’s biggest financial institutions including World Bank, BRICs Bank and ADB are willing to finance the smart city projects.

“I am happy to state the transformational smart city plan is running ahead of schedule”- Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development

40 more cities need to be selected to reach the 100 smart cities figure and the government hopes to conclude the selection process by January next year. Under the mission, each city will receive central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year to make the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years.

State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre’s contribution. The Modi-government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs 48,000 Crores over five years. The government expects the mission to bring in Rs 1 trillion worth of investment in 5 years.

Assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation are some of the highlights of the smart city project.

The first list of 20 cities was announced in January this year:-

Second list came out in May this year

Neetika Bajaj, Assistant Editor, NDTV