New Delhi, 3 Jul: The Union housing and urban affairs ministry on Wednesday said it has extended the deadline for the Smart Cities Mission till March 2025, allowing cities to complete ongoing projects, which account for around 10 per cent of the total projects.
In a statement, the ministry said the mission has been getting multiple requests from some states to grant some more time to complete the remaining projects.
These projects are in the advanced stage of implementation and got delayed due to various on-ground conditions, the statement said.
This is the second time that the mission deadline, which was earlier June 2024, has been extended.
“As on July 3, 2024, the 100 cities have completed 7,188 projects (90 per cent of total projects) amounting to Rs 1,44,237 crore as part of the mission. The balance 830 projects amounting to Rs 19,926 crore are also in advanced stages of completion,” it said.
According to the ministry, on the financial progress, the mission has an allocated budget of Rs 48,000 crore for the 100 cities. As on date, the Union government has released Rs 46,585 crore — 97 per cent of the allocated central government budget to the 100 cities.
Out of these funds released to the cities, 93 per cent has been utilised as on date. The mission has also released the full central government financial support under the mission to 74 of the 100 cities, the statement said.
The cities have been informed about the extension of the deadline, the ministry said, adding that it would be without any additional cost, beyond the already approved financial allocation under the mission.
“All ongoing projects are now expected to be completed before March 31, 2025,” the ministry said.
It said the Smart Cities Mission is a novel experiment in India’s urban development.
Since its inception in June 2015, the mission has attempted several innovative ideas like competition among cities for the selection of 100 smart cities, stakeholder-driven project selection, formation of smart city special purpose vehicles for implementation, deployment of technology and digital solutions for improving urban governance, and third-party impact evaluation by premier academic and professional institutes.
More than 8,000 multi-sectoral projects are being developed by the 100 cities, amounting to around Rs 1.6 lakh crore, the ministry said. (PTI)