16 Punjab cities among 40 identified for Amrut

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 4

The Union Ministry of Urban Development has identified 40 cities in North India, including 16 in Punjab, for preparation of service-level improvement plans (SLIP) under Centre’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

Sources said the cities included Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Batala, Moga, Pathankot, SAS Nagar, Abohar, Malerkotla, Khanna, Muktsar, Barnala and Ferozepur and Punjab; and Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Hisar, Panipat, Karnal, Sonipat, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Bhiwani, Ambala, Sirsa, Bahadurgarh, Jind, Thanesar, Kaithal, Rewari, Palwal, Jagadhri, Ambala Sadar in Haryana.

In Himachal Pradesh, Shimla has been identified for SLIP. The cities identified in Jammu and Kashmir are: Srinagar, Jammu, and Anantnag. Chandigarh has also been identified for SLIP.

In Uttarakhand, six cities — Dehradun, Hardwar, Haldwani-Kathgodam, Rudrapur, Kashipur and Roorkee — have been chosen for SLIP, the sources said. Four areas under Delhi (New Delhi Municipal Council, NDMC, EDMC and SDMC) have also been selected. The government has identified 482 cities across the country.

The ministry has so far released Rs 120 crore to states and Union Territories for preparation SLIP for each of the 482 cities identified under AMRUT. Each mission city has been given an advance assistance of Rs 25 lakh for preparation of SLIP, the sources said. Secretary (Urban Development) Madhusudan Prasad has written to all Chief Secretaries urging them to send annual action plans for their respective states.

Under AMRUT, Central assistance will be one-third of the project cost for cities with a population of above 10 lakh and 50 per cent of project cost for cities with a population of below 10 lakhs. This will be for projects related to water supply, sewerage, stormwater drains and urban transport.

The remaining amount is to be arranged by the state governments and urban local bodies, including through public private partnership (PPP). After the approval of State Annual Action Plans (SAAP), the first installment of over Rs 2,000 crore will be received for implementation of city-level SLIPs.

Allocation of funds under AMRUT for states and UTs is based on an objective criteria giving equal weightage to the urban population and number of statutory cities and towns in each state and UT, the sources said.