Chandigarh makes it to the smart list

Tribune Real Estate Bureau

Having missed the list of the first 20 smart cities in January under the Smart City Mission, Chandigarh made it to the coveted club as 13 more cities were added to it earlier this week. 

In an exclusive press conference held at New Delhi, chaired by Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu, a new set of to be developed Smart Cities were announced  which included Chandigarh, Dharamsala and Faridabad. By scoring the maximum points Lucknow topped the list of winners of the ‘fast track’ Smart City competition. With this  addition  the smart cities mission has made inroads into 25 states/UTs in India. As of now the cities covered under AMRUT and Smart Cities mission account for  almost 70 per cent of the country’s population.

The 13 cities announced this week have proposed an investment of Rs 30, 299 crore, whereas the 20 cities announced in January had proposed an investment of Rs 50, 560 crore. 

The new cities had improved their previous plans for the parameters including; better profiling of cities, consistency between citizens aspirations and action plans, resource mobilisation and a more coordinated picture of projects. 

The realty sector is upbeat about the Smart City Mission and lauding this new inclusion Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India, said,“It is exciting to see that these qualifying cities now have a long-term five year action plans based on a comprehensive analysis of gaps in their public amenities and utilities and this is a step in the right direction if we want to see more cities emerging as economic centres to reduce the pressure on select big cities. 

Lauding the move NAREDCO President Parveen Jain said that the apex body of builders and developers, sees immense opportunities for the real estate industry in transforming the cities likes Chandigarh, Lucknow, New Town in Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Dharamsala, Faridabad, Raipur, Ranchi, Warangal, Agartala, Imphal, Port Blair and Panaji into smart cities.

Each city will be given Rs 500 crore by the Centre over a period of five years with states matching this with their contribution. “The scope of work covered in Smart City package will benefit all segments of society including poor and enhance their life style with best services available”,  Jain said. 

Deepak Kapoor, President CREDAI-Western U.P. & Director, Gulshan Homz, said, “From the realty sector’s perspective, it is good that the Smart Cities Mission is moving at a good pace and very soon we’ll see the development happening on the cities announced”.

Commenting on the inclusion of Chandigarh and Faridabad Kushagr Ansal, Director, Ansal Housing, said, “Chandigarh and Faridabad making to the smart cities list is a big news for Punjab’s and Haryana’s realty markets. Chandigarh’s infrastructure already beats that of  several other realty markets on the list and thus, smart city tag for Chandigarh will not add much value to it. But on the other hand, Faridabad is one such realty market of NCR that required a strong revamp as even Greater Faridabad was unable to gain momentum. Thus, in Chandigarh’s case, being a Smart City will add value but to a little extent and for Faridabad, it will add value immensely”.

Meant to change the life style of urban India, smart cities will ensure uninterrupted power and water supply, sewerage and solid waste disposal, internet connectivity, e-governance along with good quality infrastructure. It will ensure that basic amenities are available to every house hold irrespective of area, cost or community.

Since land is State subject, state governments have selected cities based on the score for their capacity to carry out urban reforms. They should now open “single window project clearance mechanism” to hasten approvals and fast track development of smart cities, in time bound manner, Jain said.  

Cities included in smart list
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Warangal, Andhra Pradesh
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh
Chandigarh
Raipur, Chattisgarh
New Town Kolkata, West Bengal
Bhagalpur, Bihar
Panaji, Goa
Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Imphal, Manipur
Ranchi, Jharkhand
Agartala, Tripura
Faridabad, Haryana