Smart City Mission deadline extended

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, July 30

The Centre has extended the deadline to complete the ongoing projects under the Smart City Mission (SCM) as 25 works are still underway in Ludhiana, the government has said.

The development assumes significance as June 2023 was the revised deadline to finish SCM projects across 100 cities that were covered under the ambitious scheme of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry (MoHUA).

With this, Ludhiana, popularly known as Manchester of India, spread over 169 square km area with a population of 16.18 lakh as per 2011 Census, which was among 100 cities in the country and three in Punjab, selected under the SCM to be developed as a smart city in the first round of the selection by the MoHUA on June 25, 2015, got another year to complete its pending 25 projects worth Rs 725.03 crore.

Till now, 54 projects worth Rs 800.52 crore had been completed under the SCM in Ludhiana.

This was disclosed by Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore in reply to a joint question of Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and other MPs, including Feroze Varun Gandhi, Debasree Chaushuri, and Arvind Dharmapuri. Kishore told the Lok Sabha that as on July 7, work orders have been issued by 100 smart cities in 7,978 projects, of which 5,909 projects, which constitute 74 per cent of the total works, have been completed.

Furnishing the state, Union Territory, smart city-wise progress for 100 smart cities, the Union Minister said as on July 7, a sum of Rs 73,454 crore had been released for smart cities, of which Rs 66,023 crore, which constitute 90 per cent of the total amount, had been utilised.

“The implementation of Smart City Mission at the city level is done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for the purpose. At the state level, the Mission implementation is coordinated by the State-Level High-Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) and at the national level, implementation is monitored by an Apex Committee headed by the Secretary, MoHUA,” Kishore informed.

He mentioned that the nominee Directors of MoHUA on the Boards of SPVs monitor progress in respective cities on a regular basis. The MoHUA regularly interacts with states and smart cities through videoconferences, review meetings, field visits and regional workshops.

“Smart cities are assessed on various parameters, including, but not limited to, project implementation and utilisation of funds through the Real-Time Online Geospatial Management Information System (GMIS),” he revealed, adding that the details of state and UT share released and utilised under the SCM were also monitored through GMIS and the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) of the Government of India.

In Ludhiana, a total of 79 projects at a cost of Rs 1,525.55 crore were sanctioned under the SCM. Out of this, 54 works had been completed at a cost of Rs 800.52 crore, while remaining 25 projects were underway at a cost of Rs 725.03 crore. In Jalandhar, of the total 78 sanctioned projects at the cost of Rs 1,591.11 crore, 58 had been completed at Rs 290.02 crore, while the work was underway to finish the remaining 20 works at a cost of Rs 1,301.09 crore.

In Amritsar, a total of 42 projects at a cost of Rs 2,656.27 crore had been sanctioned, of which 34 projects at a cost of Rs 1,188.36 crore had been finished while the pending 8 projects at a cost of Rs 1,467.91 crore were underway.

When it comes to funds in Punjab, a sum of Rs 2,365.6 crore had been released, including the Central and state shares, of which Rs 2,110.8 crore had been utilised so far.

The funds released and utilised in Punjab included a sum of Rs 27 crore for Sultanpur Lodhi, which was not selected under the SCM.

Max projects in Ludhiana

A total of 79 projects had been sanctioned in Ludhiana under the SCM, which is maximum among all three smart cities in Punjab.

Highest pendency

A total of 25 projects are still underway in Ludhiana, which is the highest pendency among all three smart cities in Punjab.

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