Lucknow Tops Fast Track Smart Cities Competition Beating 12 Rivals

Lucknow has topped the list of Fast Track Smart Cities Competition. The 13 winners were announced by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday.

The Uttar Pradesh capital is followed by Warangal (Telangana), Dharmshala (Himachal Pradesh), Chandigarh, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), New Town Kolkata (West Bengal), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Panaji (Goa), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Imphal (Manipur), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and Faridabad (Haryana).

A total of 23 cities with the highest ranking from various states and union territories, which failed to get representation in the first round of Smart City Mission held in January, had participated in the competition.

The highlights of the smart city project include assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation.

Those cities which miss out in the Fast Track Competition would be able to participate in the next round of competition. While 20 smart cities were selected during 2015-16, another 40 would be selected during 2016-17 and the remaining 40 during the next financial year.

Each selected city will be given central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore each during the subsequent three financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will provide match the Centre’s funds.

Only 12 states and UTs were represented in the first list of 20 mission cities announced in 'Smart City Challenge Competition' on January 28.

The 20 cities which were included in the smart city mission in January were Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Pune (Maharashtra), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Surat (Gujarat), Kochi (Kerala), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Solapur (Maharashtra), Davangere (Karnataka), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), NDMC, (Delhi), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Belgaum (Karnataka), Udaipur (Rajasthan), Guwahati (Assam), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Ludhiana (Punjab), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).