The Ministry of Urban Development will announce as many as 14 winners of the ‘fast track competition’ under the smart cities mission soon.

“The government is set to announce another 13 to 14 cities in a couple of days taking the total to 34 that will be financed in the first round under the smart city mission,” Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said at a CII event on Thursday.

The top 20 winning cities in the first round were announced in January this year and covered only 12 states and union territories. The government had then decided to conduct a ‘fast track competition’ to offer an opportunity to the highest ranked city in each of the unrepresented 23 States and UTs.

These 23 cities submitted revised proposals last month and those meeting the benchmark set by the winning cities in the first round of the competition will get central assistance.

These cities are Warangal, Chandigarh, Lucknow, New Town Kolkata, Goa, Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Dharamshala, Faridabad, Raipur, Bhagalpur (Bihar), Shillong (Meghalaya), Namchi (Sikkim), Port Blair, Diu, Oulgaret (Puducherry), Silvassa (Dadra & Nagar Haveli), Imphal (Manipal), Ranchi, Agartala, Kohima, Kavaratti (Lakshadweep) and Dehradun.

Meanwhile, for the regular second round of the competition, the remaining 97 cities have to submit revised smart city plans by June-end. Those of the 23 cities which were included in the fast track competition and had failed to get selected can also join the second round of competition.

Operated as a centrally sponsored scheme, the Centre has proposed financial support of ₹48,000 crore over five years, i.e. on an average ₹100 crore per city per year. States have to match this amount.

The project intends to promote adoption of smart solutions to enhance the quality of urban life and provide a clean and sustainable environment.

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