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Karnataka in the last two years has spent just ₹91.34 crore of the total allocation of ₹1,772 crore under the Smart City project in seven cities. The poor performance was questioned in the State Assembly on Wednesday.
Minister for Housing and Urban Development UT Khader in a written reply to K S Eshwarappa, the MLA from Shivamogga City, said the cities of Belagavi, Davangere, Hubbali-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru and Bengaluru were selected under the Smart City project by the Centre in 2016 and 2017.
“The Smart City project is a 50:50 Central and State government project where both have released ₹886 crore each, totalling ₹1,772 crore. At the end of two years, the State government being the implementing authority has spent ₹91.34 crore,” Khader said.
Allocation to cities
City-wise allocation of funds is as follows: Belagavi (₹396 crore), Davangere (₹396 crore), Hubbali-Dharwad (₹220 crore), Mangaluru ₹220 crore, Shivamogga (₹220 crore), Tumakuru (₹220 crore) and Bengaluru (₹100 crore).
“The implementation of some projects in most of the cities has been delayed for want of a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The SPV is a new concept and drafting norms for implementation has delayed the projects implementation,” the Minister added.
Taking exception to delay, Eshwarappa urged the government to appoint an urban expert as managing director of the SPV. “At present, Deputy Commissioner and Municipal Commissioners are in charge of implementing the projects. How can they work when they have other priorities? They tend to neglect the smart city project,” he said.
Other projects
Khader, in an another reply to B Sriramulu, MLA from Molakalmuru, said so far 21 projects in seven cities worth ₹21.48 crore has been spent. Projects numbering 74 worth ₹704.23 crore are under various stages of implementation.
Tender has been called for 87 projects at a cost of ₹1,776 crore. Besides five works under PPP at a cost of ₹233 crore are under progress and nine works worth ₹869 crore are under tender process.
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