The centre has extended the timeline for the implementation of the Smart Cities Mission to June 2023. The decision was taken by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry as the mission was adversely hit by various reasons including the COVID pandemic. Earlier the deadline was to complete the projects within five years of being selected for the Smart Cities Mission.
The officials had picked 100 cities through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. The main aim of the mission is to reconstruct the selected cities and give a quality life to their citizens. These cities will be committed to providing adequate water supply, electricity supply, multifaceted public transport, affordable housing, robust digitalization, and enhanced sanitation and waste management, thus ensuring a quality of life to their residents.
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry had said that the Smart Cities have tendered out 6,452 projects worth Rs. 1,84,998 crore as of November 12, 2021. Out of these, work orders worth Rs. 1,56,571 crore has been issued in 5,809 projects. 3,131 of those projects worth Rs 53,175 crore have been successfully completed.
