On the ambitious plan to prepare Benares as Tokyo and 100 cities as smart cities, the government spent about 30 thousand crores, but now three years later, the Modi Government has made the first smart city that too not complete. It is estimated that by the end of the year 20 thousand crore rupees will be spent. The government claims that the first smart city will be ready by 2021.
While answering the government's plan Smart City during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the plans for making Modi Government 100 smart cities are increasingly working.
According to the government, the first phase of the project started in January 2016, so far 37 percent of the money has been spent. The central government will provide 500 crores for each project under this scheme, while the rest will be spent through the state government, public-private partnership and loan.
The government said that under the participation of the smart city was selected by 2.5 million citizens. 90 per cent of this is Project. That is, the city that has already been inhabited but its renovation work is in progress. The rest of the 10 per cent greenfield projects are, for example, the new Raipur. Overall, pencil-art will cost Rs 2,08,800 crores for the government's Smart City project.
The leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha raised the question on this. He said, according to the Standing Committee, only 7 per cent of the budget has been used in Smart City. Not only this, the Standing Committee was particularly worried about the fact that this project has just been hiding in the drawing board.
On which the government replied that the Standing Committee Utilization Certificate is based on the figures which are old. Although the government believed that there are many obstacles in making coordination between the Center and the state.