NDA's Smart City project, New Urban Mission to roll out soon?

New Delhi: The much awaited 'Smart City' project and the new urban renewal mission -- two of the NDA government's flagship programmes -- are likely to be launched by the end of this month after a nod from the Cabinet.

The cabinet note on approval for development of 100 smart cities and the new urban renewal mission for 500 cities is being prepared and circulated to different ministries, a senior Urban Development Ministry official said.

The two most ambitious schemes of the NDA government have already got the green signal from the government's Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) and now the proposal will go to the Cabinet for its approval.

While Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated for the 'Smart City' project, the urban mission has got Rs 4,000 crore for the current fiscal, as per the EFC.

It is likely to be taken up by the Cabinet after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from a three-nation tour, the official said.

Aiming at upgrading the basic infrastructure in cities, the new urban renewal mission, which replaces UPA's flagship JNNURM, is likely to be named 'Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation' (AMRUT) after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The official, however, said no such name has been finalised yet.

The proposed urban mission will take up projects related to sanitation, drinking water, urban transportation and sewerage among others.

As far as the Smart City project is concerned, it will be mostly taken up with active participation of private players and partnership with state governments and urban local bodies.

Continuous supply of water and electricity, advanced health facilities, hassle-free transportation system, wi-fi enabled zones, effective garbage collection and treatment of garbage and sewage are some of the essential components of the Smart City project.

The urban local bodies will have to undertake certain reforms in order to be eligible to be part of the Smart City project, the official added.