Assam urges Centre to include Jagiroad under New Cities Scheme
The New Cities Scheme, launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, is an extension of the Smart Cities Mission where an allocation of Rs 8,000 crore has been earmarked as performance-based challenge fund for incubation of eight new cities.
New Delhi, Dec. 11: Assam has proposed to the Centre to include Jagiroad under its New Cities Scheme that is an extension of the mega smart city project.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the new scheme as an extension of the Smart City Mission where an allocation of Rs 8,000 crore has been earmarked as performance-based challenge fund for incubation of eight new cities.
"Following the successful completion of the Smart Cities Mission, the New Cities Scheme has been conceptualized to manage the pressures of rapid urbanization," Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal said here on Tuesday.
He said the 15th Finance Commission has allocated Rs 8,000 crore as performance-based challenge fund for incubation of eight new cities. A state can have only one new city through this fund.
In line with the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission, the ministry constituted an expert committee for finalization of bid parameters for incubation of new cities. The committee finalized minimum eligibility conditions and bid parameters, and a request for proposal (RfP) was circulated to all the states.
The ministry has received 26 proposals from 21 states.
"Due to non-receipt of qualitative proposals from the northeastern states, fresh and revised proposals were sought from these states. Consequently, 28 proposals from 23 states have been received," Manohar Lal said.
Accordingly, Arunachal Pradesh's Gumin Nagar, Manipur's Gateway City, Meghalaya's New Shillong Knowledge City, Mizoram's Tanhril Local Council, Nagaland's Chhathe Valley and Sikkim's Pakyong have also been proposed to be included in the scheme.
According to government data, in possession of The Assam Tribune, 100 already selected cities under the Smart City Mission, are developing 8,000 multi-sectoral projects, as per their local needs amounting to Rs 165,000 crore.
"These projects can be categorized into ICCC, Smart Mobility, Smart Energy, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), Vibrant Public Spaces, Economic Infrastructure, Social Infrastructure, Smart Governance, among others," the data stated.
It said that 91 per cent of the total projects (7,352 projects worth Rs 147,366 crore) have been completed and around 714 projects worth Rs 17,303 crore are under implementation across 100 smart cities.
"Out of the total allocated budget of Rs 48,000 crore, the Government of India has released Rs 46,419 crore to the cities under the mission, of which Rs 44,545 crore has been utilized by the smart cities," the data revealed.
Manohar Lal was talking to the reporters regarding the achievements of his ministry under different components of the urban sector.
Referring to the PM-eBus Sewa that was launched on August 16, 2023 aiming to augment urban bus operations in urban areas, Manohar Lal said that Rs 437.50 crore has been released to eight states for development of allied infrastructure.
"Under the scheme, Rs 200.18 crore to Maharashtra; Rs 44.46 crore to Rajasthan; Rs 30.19 crore to Chhattisgarh; Rs 11.87 to Chandigarh; 6.47 crore to Assam; Rs 47.72 to Odisha; Rs 9.06 to Gujarat; and Rs 87.55 to Bihar have been released," he said.
Under the scheme, the Centre provides Rs 20,000 crore as central assistance for deploying 10,000 fully air-conditioned electric buses under the GCC model. Cities with a population between 3-40 lakh and other state capitals with less than 3 lakh population as per 2011 census are eligible for this scheme.
