Govt allots Rs 7,290 crore to AMRUT, 'Smart Cities' Mission in budget

The government of India allocated about Rs 7,296 crore for two central schemes -- Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and 'Smart Cities' Mission. The general budget 2016-17 earmarked an amount of Rs 3,205 crore for the development of 100 smart cities across the country by 2020, while nearly Rs 4,091 crore for AMRUT. Under the smart cities projects, names of the first 20 cities, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, Solapur, Davangere, Indore, the New Delhi area, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belgaum, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal were announced late last month by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu. Urban Development Ministry had in June last year released the guidelines and mission statement for the project to develop 100 such cities. In December last year, 97 selected cities had submitted their plans to the Urban Development Ministry and were given Rs.2 crore each. Lastly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to create 100 new smart cities by 2022 that will have internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure such as waste management and efficient public transport.