The ministry of housing and urban affairs on July 3 said that it has extended the deadline for the Smart Cities Mission till March 2025, allowing cities to complete ongoing projects, which account for around 10% of the total projects.
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“The Mission has been getting multiple requests from some states/city government representatives, to grant some more time to complete the balance 10% projects. These balance ongoing projects are in an advanced stage of implementation and got delayed due to various on-ground conditions. It is in the interest of the people that these projects get completed and contribute towards the ease of living in their urban areas,” the ministry said in a statement.
Taking cognizance of these requests, the Government of India has extended the Mission period up to March 31, 2025 to complete these balance 10% projects. This extension has been informed to the cities that it would be without any additional cost, beyond the already approved financial allocation under the Mission, it said.
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All ongoing projects are now expected to be completed before March 31, 2025, it said.
This is the second time that the mission deadline, which was earlier June 2024, has been extended.
As on July 3, 2024, the 100 Cities have completed 7,188 projects (90% of total projects) amounting to ₹1,44,237 crore as part of the Mission. The balance 830 projects amounting to ₹19,926 crore are also in advanced stages of completion.
On the financial progress, the Mission has an allocated GOI budget of ₹ 48,000 crore for the 100 cities. As on date, GOI has released ₹ 46,585 crore (97% of the allocated GOI budget) to 100 cities. Out of these funds released to the cities, 93% have been utilized as on date. The Mission has also released full GOI financial support under the Mission to 74 out of 100 Cities, the ministry said.
Out of these funds released to the cities, 93% has been utilised as on date. The mission has also released the full central government financial support under the mission to 74 of the 100 cities, the statement said.
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The cities have been informed about the extension of the deadline, the ministry said, adding that it would be without any additional cost, beyond the already approved financial allocation under the mission.
It said the Smart Cities Mission is a novel experiment in India’s urban development.
Since its inception in June 2015, the mission has attempted several innovative ideas like competition among cities for the selection of 100 smart cities, stakeholder-driven project selection, formation of smart city special purpose vehicles for implementation, deployment of technology and digital solutions for improving urban governance, and third-party impact evaluation by premier academic and professional institutes, the statement said.
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More than 8,000 multi-sectoral projects are being developed by the 100 cities, amounting to around ₹1.6 lakh crore, the ministry said.
