With around 10% of projects left, Centre considers extension of Smart Cities Mission

After the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the deadline for all 100 cities was fixed to June 2023 in 2021. In May last year, the Ministry again extended the deadline, this time to June 30, 2024.

As of this week, around 10% of the projects worth around Rs 15,000 crore were pending, sources said. An extension for those cities that still need to complete their projects beyond June 30 was being considered, they said.

The Ministry’s Smart Cities Mission dashboard showed that out of a total of 7,996 projects worth Rs 1.64 lakh crore, 7,118 projects worth Rs 1.43 lakh crore had been completed as on June 7, while 878 projects worth Rs 21,189 crore were still ongoing as of June 7. It could take the cities around six months more to complete the ongoing works, it is learnt.

Out of the completed projects, 5,588 projects worth Rs 65,996 crore were funded under the Mission, while the remaining are from the cities’ own resources, PPP mode, convergence with other missions and other sources.

All 100 cities have set up Integrated Command and Control Centres at a cost of Rs 11,775 crore. Among the different categories, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects worth Rs 44,300; smart mobility projects worth Rs 33,019 crore; and smart governance projects worth Rs 15,474 crore accounted for the top categories of completed works.

Earlier this year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs’ report on the Smart Cities Mission said the Ministry had said state governments should complete the projects at their own cost if they go beyond June 30. The Centre and State have an equal share of the funding.

The report said: “The ministry has stated before the committee that in case of non-completion of these projects within the extended time frame, the state governments concerned will have to complete the projects at their own cost. The committee is of the strong opinion that the ministry’s role should not be confined to transfer of their share regarding mission/scheme/project, but they have to remain watchful for the execution and successful completion of the projects.”

According to sources, any possible extension of the Mission would not include any additional funding. A Ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.