Union Minister of Urban Development and Housing M Venkaiah Naidu today said that Maharashtra is at the forefront of the urban transformation mission. <br/><br/>Addressing a press conference after holding a review meeting with state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mr. Naidu said the mission is progressing well. Mr Naidu informed that the central government has approved a total investment of 67,523 crore rupees for improving urban infrastructure and metro projects.<br/> '<br/>Talking about Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban, Mr. Naidu said 263 cities and towns in Maharashtra out of 384 have been declared Open Defecation Free. He said, more than four lakh individual household toilets have been built so far, while work on constructing above 16,000 community and public toilets has either been completed or is in advanced stages. <br/>'<br/>Mr. Fadnavis announced that urban Maharashtra would become open defecation free by 2nd October this year. Stating that Maharashtra also leads in solid waste management, he saidm segregation of waste at source is being done in more than 12 cities and will soon spread across the state.