SPVs formed for Rs.205,018 crore projects
All 100 Smart Cities have incorporated Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for implementing 5,151 identified projects worth more than Rs.205,018 crore.
Giving this update on 27 Dec 2018, the Ministry of Housing & Affairs highlighted several initiatives including infusion of more than Rs.685,758 crore for ensuring citizen friendly urban areas.
The transformation has been undertaken by way of implementing key urban reforms, projects for urban rejuvenation, construction of public and household toilets and solid waste management under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
More than 65 lakh houses have been sanctioned for construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in urban areas with provision of water, sewerage and sanitation under the Mission AMRUT by sanctioning projects worth Rs.77,640 crore.
Urban transport will be augmented by way of new metro lines.
It said tendering has started for 677 projects with a cost of Rs.38,207 crore and implementation has commenced for 1,177 projects with a cost of Rs.43,493 crore while 534 projects worth Rs.10,116 crore have been completed.
The progress with respect to implementation of projects pertaining to Smart Solutions, Smart Roads, Smart Water, Solar Rooftops, and Visible & Impactful is:
·For Smart Command & Control Centres projects worth Rs.1,558 crore in 11 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs.3,049 crore in 29 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs.2,730 crore in 21 cities.
·For Smart Roads projects worth Rs.228 crore in 4 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs.3,819 crore in 34 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs.2,069 crore in 10 cities.
·For Smart Water projects worth Rs.902 crore in 18 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs.5,961 crore in 35 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs.921 crore in 17 cities.
·For Solar projects worth Rs.58 crore in 8 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs.828 crore in 42 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs.300 crore in 9 cities.
·For Visible and impactful, projects worth Rs.179 crore in 16 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs.3,701 crore in 32 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs.2,828 crore in 20 cities.
So far 17 States have already engaged professional firms for preparing the Value Capture Finance (VCF) Policy Framework which was released by the Ministry on 28th February 2017.
VCF is an important tool for generating much needed additional finances required by the States/Cities for funding the infrastructural investments.
VCF framework is expected to help the States generate additional revenue.
Other significant initiatives under the Smart Cities Mission:
The “Ease of Living” Index is an initiative of the Ministry to help cities assess their liveability vis-à-vis global and national benchmarks and encourage cities to move towards an ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban planning and management.
It was decided in June 2017 to rank 116 cities based on the liveability parameters. The implementation of the assessment commenced formally on 19 January 2018. The Ministry has launched the outcome/rankings of 111 cities on the Ease of Living index on 13 August 2018.
The framework covers all the critical pillars of urban development (Physical, Institutional, Social and Economic) and uses 78 indicators across 15 categories (governance, identity and culture, education, health, safety and security, economy, affordable housing, land use planning, public open spaces, transportation and mobility, assured water supply, waste-water management, solid waste management, power and quality of environment). fiinews.com
