The Centre has asked the States to focus on early implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) based smart city projects. In a letter to chief secretaries of all the states and union territories, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra urged them to ensure commencement of work by November this year on 261 smart city projects in 60 cities. He said the smart city projects will have a visible and transformative impact in the lives of citizens. <br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports that these smart city projects were announced during January- September last year for an investment of more than 31 thousand crore rupees. States and Union Territories have been asked to speed up work on 370 PPP projects that involve an investment of more than 32 thousand four hundred crore rupees. The impactful projects identified range from building 40 outdoor fitness centres in New Delhi Municipal Council area at a cost of 1.31 crore rupees to redevelopment of 340 acre area in Bhopal at a cost of 3,000 crore rupees. <br/><br/>During a review of Smart Cities mission last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had emphasised on early implementation of smart city projects. Appreciating the participation of cities in the challenge route, Mr Modi had said that the challenge before everyone is now to ensure implementation and expeditious completion of the work in the 90 identified cities with high quality.

The Centre has asked the States to focus on early implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) based smart city projects.<br/><br/>In a letter to chief secretaries of all the states and union territories, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra urged them to ensure commencement of work by November this year on 261 smart city projects in 60 cities.<br/><br/>He said the smart city projects will have a visible and transformative impact in the lives of citizens. These projects were announced during January- September 2016, for an investment of more than 31 thousand crore rupees.<br/><br/>States and UTs have also been asked to speed up work on 370 PPP projects that involve an investment of more than 32 thousand four hundred crore rupees.