18-Apr-2022: ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization’ Conference opens in Surat, with 100 Smart Cities joining from across the country

The 3-day “Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization” conference had a grand opening in Surat today. The event is being organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India with Surat Smart City Corporation Development Ltd., under the clarion call of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), given by Hon’ble Prime Minister to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence.

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs was the chief guest at the event. Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat addressed the gathering through a Video Message. Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Kaushal Kishore, Union Minister of State for Railways Ms. Darshana Jardosh, Shri Vinod Moradiya, Minister of Urban development and urban housing, Government of Gujarat, Dr Audimulapu Suresh, Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh, Shri C.R. Patil, MP, and Smt. Hemali Kalpeshkumar Boghawala, Mayor, Surat took part in the inaugural session. All key urban stakeholders from Central and State Governments joined the event, including inter alia, Secretary, MoHUA Shri Manoj Joshi, Principal Secretaries of States/UTs, Municipal Commissioners of Cities, MDs/CEOs of 100 Smart Cities, State Level Nodal Agencies/ Mission Directorates, professionals, industry representatives, media, and members of academia also attended the event, which highlighted some of the important initiatives being implemented in 100 Smart Cities.

An awards distribution ceremony was organised, during the inaugural wherein award winners of the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020 were felicitated. These awards were earlier announced through virtual conference in 2021. However, the award distribution ceremony was deferred due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation at that time.  Surat and Indore were given the Best city award, while Uttar Pradesh was awarded the Best State.

The event also featured release of Urban Outcomes Framework 2022 including, 'Ease of Living', ‘Municipal Performance Index’, ‘Data Maturity and ClimateSmart Cities Assessment Framework. Ministry’s integrated data portal AMPLIFI, which will provide valuable data about Indian cities, was also launched. Further, Smart Cities Mission also launched a comprehensive dashboard with Outcome Output Management Framework (OOMF) dashboard in GMIS during the event.

The opening day of the ‘Smart Cities Smart Urbanization' mega conclave showcased various interactive activities, arranged interactions with eminent speakers and learnings across the 5 themes vis. Reimagining Public Spaces, Digital Governance, ClimateSmart Cities, Innovation and Smart Finance, for over 1000+ participants registered from across the country. The dignitaries took a tour of the five thematic pavilions being exhibited at the venue. These five themes demonstrated the variety of urban projects being developed in the Smart Cities.

Inauguration of ‘Amaro Padosh’: The Smart Cities Mission and Surat Municipal Corporation created a temporary, life-size neighbourhood of 30,000 square feet at SIECC venue with public amenities like park, anganwadi, public health center, municipal school, bus stop with cycle stand, food plaza, EV charging station, and handloom shop. The neighbourhood was inaugurated by Union Minister, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri. The objective is to provide a ‘learning by experiencing’ opportunity to attendees participating in the event. The neighbourhood was built in a week by a mix of professionals with expertise in urban planning and design, architecture, landscape design, traffic studies and civil engineering.

Launch of a ‘virtual hub for collaborations on urban transformation’ in partnership between the Smart Cities Mission and the World Economic Forum.

To solve complex urban challenges, cities require collaborative action across governments, industry, academia and civil society – both national and international. The Smart Cities Mission and World Economic Forum have joined hands to setup a ‘virtual hub for collaboration on urban transformations’. The hub will leverage emerging technologies and innovations to transform Indian cities into centres of sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth.

Digital Governance Pavilion- Empowering communities with data and digital technology: ‘Digital Duniya’ pavilion was inaugurated at the Smart Cities Smart Urbanization Conference to highlight initiatives that empower communities through data and digital technology. Initiatives undertaken by the 100 smart cities were showcased in building a robust ecosystem powered by ICT interventions. This pavilion presented the data initiatives and some first-hand experience of the smart solutions deployed/ undertaken by 100 Smart cities. Interactive workshops and sessions were organized to showcase benefits accepted from digital governance, with real-time data, AI/ML cases, and use of platforms, such as India Urban Data Exchange and Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC). A key highlight of the pavilion was the live feed of SMAC ICCC of Surat and the Virtual Reality tour of the various ICT initiatives of the Mission.

Launch of Urban Outcomes Framework 2022, AI Playbook for Cities, and AMPLIFI Portal

Smart Cities Mission launched the Urban Outcomes Framework 2022, Artificial Intelligence Playbook for Cities & AMPLIFI - Assessment and Monitoring Platform for Liveable, Inclusive and Future-ready urban India which is MoHUA’s integrated data portal. These initiatives enhanced the engagement of people from different backgrounds including government agencies, private sector enterprises, scientific and academic institutions, businesses, start-ups, civil society etc. The idea is to provide a platform that offers ample opportunities on how to continue creating and promoting the use of data that addresses complex urban issues.

The AI Playbook is a guidebook for implementation of Artificial Intelligence solutions that cities can deploy to solve complex urban issues. Further, a compendium of AI use cases that have successfully been implemented in urban domain was also released at the event. These resources shall be extremely useful, not only to the 100 Smart Cities, but can also be adopted by other cities across the country, making the Smart Cities Mission to Movement.

These efforts are in continuity to the earlier initiatives of Smart Cities Mission in the field of data and technology viz. Data Maturity Assessment Framework, ICCC Maturity Assessment Framework, India Urban Data Exchange, Data Smart Cities, National Urban Digital Mission, and India Urban Observatory.

Innovation Bazaar Pavilion – Defining and solving societal issues: Raising to the clarion call of Honourable Prime Minister to make Indian cities resilient, the Innovation Program at the Smart Cities Mission took quantum jumps to bridge the divide between smart cities and startups. Innovation Bazaar pavilion at the conference showcased cutting-edge solutions for urban challenges, and through myriad activities, expert dialogues and living lab deployments provided the visitors with a paradigm shifting experience in urban innovation. Several Startups showcased their products at the pavilion.

Climate Smart Cities Pavilion – To build climate actions in cities: The Cafe, a pavilion, is an experiential platform hosting 7 case clinics, 4 donor meets, interactive gaming, an interactive data wall, a photo-exhibit and much more. The pavilion promises 2-days of cutting-edge events with city leaders and local change-makers in a deliberative, iterative, and action-oriented format.

Smart Finance Pavilion- Cities as Drivers of the Nation’s Wealth: The Smart Finance pavilion named ‘finance ka adda’ focuses on innovation in urban finance helping cities identify untapped sources of revenue. The pavilion showcases an exhibition of more than 20 successful and innovative PPP projects of Smart Cities Mission, a section with MUNIFY (where ULBs can know their budgets and finance overviews), Invest India Grid section, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), and an Output and Outcome Monitoring Framework (OOMF) Clinic.  29 Global/National experts will speak on diverse urban finance issues at the pavilion

Smart Cities Mission was launched by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India on 25th June, 2015. It has been a part of a visionary agenda for urban rejuvenation and has been designed as part of a multi-layer strategy to meet the aspirations of 40% of India’s population living in cities.

SCM is a transformational Mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban development in the country.  Of the total proposed projects under SCM, 7,905 projects worth ₹1,93,143 crore (94% by value) have been tendered so far, work orders have been issued for 7,692 projects worth around ₹1,80,508 crore (88% by value). 3,830 projects worth ₹60,919 crore (33% by value) have also been fully completed and are operational (10 April 2022).

Of the total investment of ₹2,05,018 crore under the Smart Cities Mission, projects worth ₹93,552 crore were proposed to be developed by Center and State funds. Almost 100% of these government funded projects i.e., projects worth ₹92,300 crore have been work ordered. The Financial progress in the Smart Cities Mission has accelerated too. The total expenditure in mission was ₹1,000 crore in 2018, it has increased today to ₹45,000 crore. The utilization percentage of the total GOI funds released to cities is at 91%.

Projects developed under the Smart Cities Mission are multi-sectoral and mirror the aspirations of the local population. As on date, 80 Smart cities have developed and operationalised their Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCCs) in the country. These operational ICCCs functioned as war-rooms for COVID management, and along with other smart infrastructure developed under the mission, helped cities in fighting the pandemic through information dissemination, improving communication, predictive analysis and supporting effective management.

7-Apr-2022: Smart Cities Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life, clean and sustainable environment to their citizens

The Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on 25 June 2015. 100 Smart cities have been selected through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018.  4 cities of Bihar, i.e., Bhagalpur, Bihar Sharif, Muzaffarpur & Patna have been selected for development as Smart Cities.

The objective of SCM is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life, clean and sustainable environment to their citizens through application of smart solutions. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create replicable models which will act as lighthouses for other areas in the same city/other aspiring cities. The Smart City Proposal (SCP) of each city, including those in Bihar, has been prepared through extensive citizen engagement. Since the needs and aspirations of citizens in different cities are different, the priorities and projects contained in such SCPs vary from city to city. Ensuring connectivity through airports was not envisaged as a mandatory objective under SCM.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has informed that Government of India has formulated a Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008 which provides guidelines, procedure and conditions for establishment of new Greenfield Airports in the country. As per GFA Policy, an airport developer or the respective State Government willing to establish an airport is required to send a proposal to MoCA in the prescribed format available at www.civilaviation.gov.in.

There is a 2-stage process for approval of the proposal i.e. `Site Clearance’ followed by `In-Principle’ approval. In accordance with this Policy, MoCA receives proposals from the State Governments or airport developers, from time to time, for establishment of airports. After due examination, the approval for development of a new Greenfield Airport is granted. The responsibility for project implementation such as land acquisition, project funding, obtaining other mandatory clearances, etc. lies with the concerned airport developer or the State Government, as the case may be. Presently, there are 140 Operational Airports in the country out of which three are in Bihar, viz. Gaya, Patna and Darbhanga Airport.

2-Dec-2021: Integrated Command & Control Centres (ICCCs) operationalized in 75 Smart Cities

With COVID-19 declared as global pandemic, Smart Cities took immediate steps to manage the crisis. The response to COVID-19 in Smart Cities can be classified into four areas of action viz. Information, Communication, Management and Preparedness.

As on date, out of 100 Smart Cities, Integrated Command & Control Centres (ICCCs) have been operationalized in 75 Smart Cities. State/District/City Administrations converted ICCCs into COVID-19 War Rooms and used existing Smart Infrastructure for effective management of the pandemic.

All 100 Smart Cities deployed digital technology based and other innovative solutions to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic. The details of such steps taken by these Cities to manage the pandemic are available in the document “The Smart Responses to COVID-19: A Documentation of Innovative Actions by India’s Smart Cities during the Pandemic” which is available on smartnet.niua.org.

Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on 25 June 2015 for development of 100 cities as Smart Cities. The cities were selected through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. As on 12 November 2021, these cities have tendered out 6,452 projects worth ₹ 1,84,998 crore; out of which work orders have been issued in 5,809 projects worth ₹ 1,56,571 crore; out of these, 3,131 projects worth ₹ 53,175 crore have been completed. COVID-19 pandemic related lockdowns and other unprecedented situations have led to temporary interruptions in execution of Smart City works across the country. However, Smart Cities commenced works after un-lockdown and are trying their best to make up for the time lost due to such unprecedented and unforeseen circumstances.

29-Nov-2021: 3,131 Smart City projects worth ₹ 53,175 crore have been completed

Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on 25 June 2015 for development of 100 cities as Smart Cities. The cities were selected through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. As on 12 November 2021, these Smart Cities have tendered out 6,452 projects worth ₹ 1,84,998 crore; out of which work orders have been issued in 5,809 projects worth ₹ 1,56,571 crore and 3,131 of those projects worth ₹ 53,175 crore have been completed.

As on 12 November2021, Central Government has released ₹ 27,235 crore to States/Union Territories for their Smart Cities.

Out of 1,910 projects worth ₹ 58,880 crore that were part of the Smart City Proposals(SCPs) of Smart Cities selected in Round-1, 1,768 projects (93%) worth ₹ 47,006 crore (80%) have either been completed or are under implementation. The period of implementation of SCM has been extended up to June 2023 and all Round-I cities are expected to complete their projects within the stipulated time.

28-Jul-2021: 2,734 projects completed till June 2021 under Smart Cities Mission

Smart Cities Mission (SCM) is being implemented in 100 cities selected through 4 rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. As on 30 June,2021, these cities have tendered out 5,956 projects worth ₹ 1,79,413 crore; out of which work orders have been issued in 5,314 projects worth ₹ 1,48,029 crore; out of these, 2,734 projects worth ₹ 46,769 crore have been completed.

Central Government has released ₹ 23,925 crore to States/Union Territories for their Smart Cities as of June, 2021.

Out of 1,794 projects worth ₹ 57,124 crore that were part of the Smart City Plans of Smart Cities selected in Round-1, 1,667 projects (93%) worth ₹ 45,374 crore (79%) have either been completed or are under implementation. All efforts are being made for timely completion of projects undertaken in these cities.

9-Mar-2019: India Urban Observatory & Video Wall Inaugurated in MOHUA

Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs, has stated that as cities begin to implement ‘smart’ solutions, data becomes a significant asset and enabler for data driven Governance, leading to urban transformation. While inaugurating state-of-the-art India Urban Observatory, he said that it will plug into the myriad sources of data from cities, both from real-time and archival sources. While inaugurating the Video Wall, he said that it will showcase the insights gained from the Observatory and the various Missions/ offices with the idea to proactively engage with citizens/ visitors in spreading awareness about the various initiatives of the Ministry.

It is imperative for the empowerment of communities that cities work on using information available through various sources to improve their functioning, public services, governance systems, achievements and failures in the public domain, thereby, empowering their citizens through the access to information. The future of Governance is data-driven and Indian cities are beginning to adopt this change in their functioning. Bringing PEOPLE in ‘focus’ needs a move towards outcome-based planning in governance. The Observatory will help in getting reliable, up-to-date information on a meaningful set of indicators over various domains such as transport, health, environment, water, finance and so on, which will further assist in developing best practices, future strategies and policy interventions as and when required.

The conceptualisation of this Observatory recognizes the value of enhancing engagement among all four stakeholders of the ‘quadruple-helix’ model— Government, citizens, academia, and industry, along with improvements in the internal workflow and decision-making processes of city Governments. He further elaborated that the India Urban Observatory would progressively become the chief data analysis and Management Hub of the Ministry and would enable evidence-based policy formulation, capacity building of ecosystem partners on data-driven governance, foster innovation through development of newer and better use cases thereby enabling solutions at scale and speed. It will provide scientific response to the complex challenges to urbanization through use of state-of-the-art technologies and collaborations.

The India Urban Observatory is an important component of the recently launched DataSmart Cities strategy that envisions to create a ‘Culture of Data’ in cities, for intelligent use of data in addressing complex urban challenges. The strategy aims to lay down the basic premise, three foundational pillars vis. People, Process, Platform, and a suggested roadmap for cities to improve their readiness for intelligent use of data. Making cities ‘DataSmart’ is key to realizing the full potential of technology interventions and innovation ecosystems in cities. . The DataSmart Cities Strategy also presents a Data Maturity Assessment Framework (DMAF), that measures the readiness and evolution of cities in their efforts to implementing the Data strategy. The assessment of cities as per the DMAF will foster a culture of data and drive innovation in India’s Smart Cities through a spirit of collaboration and healthy competition. (https://smartnet.niua.org/dsc/dmaf.php)

19-Jan-2018: Government names nine new smart cities

Nine more cities have been chosen in the latest round of the Centre's flagship Smart Cities Mission. The number of cities picked under the project now stands at 99. Under the scheme, each city will get Rs 500 crore from the Centre for implementing various projects. An equal amount, on matching basis, will have to be contributed by the state or urban local bodies.

The nine cities chosen in the fourth round are -Bareilly, Moradabad and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Erode in Tamil Nadu, Bihar Sharif in Bihar, Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Diu in Daman and Diu, Kavaratti in Lakshadweep and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

The nine cities were selected from 15 cities that had submitted their proposals to the ministry. Shillong will be the 100th city provided it submit its proposal to the Centre in next three months.

The nine cities selected have proposed an investment of Rs 12,824 crore, which would be impacting 35.3 lakh persons living in these areas. These cities have proposed to take up various project, including "smart" roads, rejuvenation of water bodies, cycle tracks, walking paths, smart classrooms, skill development centres, upgradation of health facilities and pan city projects like integrated command control centre.

In January 2016, 20 cities were announced under the Smart Cities mission, followed by 13 cities in May 2016, 27 cities in September 2016 and 30 cities in June 2017. The total proposed investment in the 99 Smart City Mission would be Rs 2.03 lakh crore.

As on January 17, there were 2,948 projects worth Rs 1.38 lakh crore in various stages of implementation, while 189 projects worth Rs 2,237 crore have been completed.

23-Jun-2017: Government announces 30 new Smart Cities.

On the occasion of second anniversary of the Smart City Mission, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu announced 30 more cities to be included in the Smart City Mission. With this, total count of prospective Smart Cities rose to 90.

This was the third round of city challenge under the Smart City Mission. The Urban Development Department will pump in Rs 57,393 crore in developing the newly chosen 30 cities. Out of this amount, Rs 46,879 crore will be dedicated to developing core infrastructure in the areas demarcated by the denizens of the selected cities and Rs 10,514 crore for developing technology-based solutions for better governance, smooth service delivery and optimum utilisation of infrastructure. The total budget of the Smart City project has now rose to almost Rs two lakh crore for 90 cities.

Twenty cities will compete in the fourth round of city challenge to secure the last 10 spots under the project. The Narendra Modi government launched its flagship urban development scheme on June 25, 2015 with the motive to develop 100 Indian cities as Smart Cities with advanced amenities and governance. The project is mostly to be planned and executed at municipal level, ensuring public participation.

5-Jan-2017: Japan to assist in making Chennai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi Smart Cities.

Japan has decided to be associated with the development of Chennai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi as smart cities. This was today conveyed by Japan’s Ambassador to India Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu during his meeting with Minister of Urban Development Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Mr. Hiramatsu further said that Japan is quite interested in urban development initiatives of the Government of India and decided to be a partner.

Responding to Shri Naidu’ observation about the need for speedy action, Japan’s Envoy said “We would like to match the action oriented approach of the Government under Prime Minister Shri Modi”. Both of them discussed growing cooperation between the two countries further to the last meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries.

High Commissioner of United Kingdom Mr. Dominic Asquith also met Shri Venkaiah Naidu and discussed converting into action the MoU signed between the two countries during the recent visit of British Prime Minister to India Ms. Teresa May, on cooperation in urban development sector. He said institutionalizing Government to Government cooperation for smart city development has huge potential.

So far, leading countries have come forward to be associated with development of 15 smart cities. These include: United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) –Visakhapatnam, Ajmer and Allahabad, UK-Pune, Amaravati(Andhra Pradesh) and Indore, France-Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur and Germany –Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and  Kochi.