Extension of Smart Cities Mission an ‘open issue’, Ministry tells House panel

“Yeh ek open issue hai jo hamare saamne hai [this is an open issue before us],” he said, as per the report.

The panel noted the “contrasting difference” in performance of cities. “On the one hand, 32 smart cities have completed more than the number of projects planned for implementation under the SCM, in some cases even four times more than the actual target. On the other hand, the remaining 68 smart cities are yet to meet the project completion targets wherein the performance of some cities is quite dismal. Therefore, the total number of completed projects gives a misleading picture because it also takes into account the excess projects accomplished by 32 performing smart cities,” the report said.

As on February 15, the report said, of 7,821 projects worth Rs.181 lakh crore, 5,343 projects worth Rs.1 lakh crore had been completed. The 100 cities were selected in rounds from 2016 to 2018 and were supposed to complete their projects within five years of their selection. The deadline for all 100 cities was moved to June 2023 in 2021. So far, Rs 36,561 crore out of its total share of Rs 48,000 crore for the mission had been released. Out of that, 90% of the funds have been utilised by the cities, the ministry said.

In its recommendations, the panel, which is chaired by JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh, said the ministry should not extend the deadline without assessing the real reasons for the delay in some cities. “No further extension of time should be granted without a detailed assessment and addressing of reasons leading to such inordinate delay in completion of these projects,” the panel recommended.