Smart Cities Mission
CountryIndia
Prime Minister(s)Narendra Modi
MinistryMinistry of Urban Development
Key peopleManohar Lal Khattar, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs
Roopa Mishra (Joint Secretary & Mission Director)[1]
Launched25 June 2015 (2015-06-25)
Closed31 March 2025 (2025-03-31)[2]
Funding₹2,039.79 billion (US$24 billion)[3]
Websitesmartcities.gov.in

Smart Cities Mission was an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen-friendly and sustainable.[4] The Union Ministry of Urban Development was responsible for implementing the mission in collaboration with the state governments of the respective cities. In 2017, the ministry was merged with the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation to form the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.[5]

The mission was planned to include 100 cities, with an initial project completion deadline of 2019, later revised to 2023. As of January 2025, 7,479 out of a total of 8,058 tendered projects had been completed, utilizing ₹1,500.05 billion (US$18 billion) of the total allocated amount of ₹1,643.68 billion (US$19 billion). The project was officially shut down on 31 March 2025.[2]

Description

Smart Cities Mission envisions developing areas within selected cities in the country as model areas based on an area development plan, which is expected to have a rub-off effect on other parts of the city and nearby cities and towns.[6] Cities will be selected based on the Smart Cities challenge, where cities will compete in a countrywide competition to obtain the benefits from this mission. The mission aims to provide financial assistance and promote sustainable urban development through selected cities.[7] The Ministry of Urban Development used a competition-based method as a means for selecting cities for funding.[8] The state governments were asked to nominate potential cities with the overall count across India limited to 100.[9] A hundred cities have been selected so far to be upgraded as part of the Smart Cities Mission.[10][11] Each city will create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) headed by a CEO to implement the projects under mission.[12]

History

The mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 June 2015.[13] In the 2015 Union budget of India, ₹20.2 billion (US$240 million) was allocated for the smart cities mission.[14] The mission was further allocated ₹32.15 billion (US$380 million) in the 2016, ₹40 billion (US$470 million) in 2017, ₹61.69 billion (US$730 million) in 2018, ₹64.5 billion (US$760 million) in 2019, ₹61.36 billion (US$730 million) in 2020 and ₹61.18 billion (US$720 million) in the 2021.[15] The project was extended and was allocated ₹141 billion (US$1.7 billion) in the 2023 Union budget of India and a further ₹160 billion (US$1.9 billion) in the 2023 Union budget of India.[16] As of September 2023, a total of 7,960 projects worth ₹1,714.32 billion (US$20 billion) crore were tendered.[5] As of January 2025, 7,479 out of a total of 8,058 tendered projects have been completed, utilizing ₹1,500.05 billion (US$18 billion) of the total allocated amount of ₹1,643.68 billion (US$19 billion).[17] The project was officially shut down on 31 March 2025.[18]

List of cities

In 2015, 98 cities were nominated for the smart cities challenge, based on a state-level competition.[19] A hundred cities were supposed to be nominated but Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh did not use one of their allotted slots.[20] All the participating cities from West Bengal,[21] along with Mumbai and Navi Mumbai from Maharashtra, withdrew their nominations.[22]

List of nominated cities (2016)
State/UT Count Cities
Uttar Pradesh 13 Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Rampur, Raebareli, Saharanpur, Varanasi
Tamil Nadu 12 Chennai, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Erode, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur, Vellore
Maharashtra 8 Amravati, Aurangabad, Kalyan-Dombivali, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Thane,
Karnataka 7 Belagavi, Bengaluru, Davanagere, Hubbali-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shimoga, Tumakuru,
Madhya Pradesh 7 Indore, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Gwalior, Sagar, Satna, Ujjain,
Gujarat 6 Ahmedabad, Dahod, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara
Andhra Pradesh 4 Amaravati, Kakinada, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam
Bihar 4 Bhagalpur, Biharsharif, Muzaffarpur, Patna
Rajasthan 4 Ajmer, Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur
Chhattisgarh 3 Bilaspur, Naya Raipur, Raipur
Punjab 3 Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana
Haryana 2 Faridabad, Karnal
Kerala 2 Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram
Odisha 2 Bhubaneshwar, Rourkela
Sikkim 2 Gangtok, Namchi
Telangana 2 Karimnagar, Warangal
Arunachal Pradesh 1 Pasighat
Assam 1 Guwahati
Goa 1 Panaji
Himachal Pradesh 1 Dharamshala
Jharkhand 1 Ranchi[23]
Manipur 1 Imphal
Meghalaya 1 Shillong
Mizoram 1 Aizawl
Nagaland 1 Kohima
Tripura 1 Agartala
Uttarakhand 1 Dehradun
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1 Port Blair
Chandigarh 1 Chandigarh
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1 Silvassa
Daman and Diu 1 Diu
Delhi 1 New Delhi
Jammu and Kashmir 1 Srinagar
Lakshadweep 1 Kavaratti
Puducherry 1 Oulgaret

Selected cities

On 28 January 2016, a batch of 20 cities known as "lighthouse cities" were selected in the first round of the All India City Challenge competition for which an assistance of ₹200 crore (US$24 million) each during the first year followed by ₹100 crore (US$12 million) per year during the next three years was announced.[24] 13 cities were added as an extension in May 2016.[25] 27 cities were added in September 2016, 30 in June 2017, nine in January 2018 and one in June 2018.[26][27][28][11]

List of selected cities
Phase Year Count Cities
Phase I January 2016 20 Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, Solapur, Davangere, Indore, New Delhi, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belagavi, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana, Bhopal
Phase I (Ext.) May 2016 13 Chandigarh, Bhagalpur, Faridabad, Lucknow, Raipur, Ranchi, Dharamasala, Warangal, Panaji, Agartala, Imphal, Port Blair
Phase II September 2016 27 Amritsar, Kalyan, Ujjain, Tirupati, Nagpur, Mangalore, Vellore, Thane, Gwalior, Agra, Nashik, Rourkela, Kanpur, Madurai, Tumakuru, Kota, Thanjavur, Namchi, Jalandhar, Shimoga, Salem, Ajmer, Varanasi, Kohima, Hubli-Dharwad, Aurangabad, Vadodara
Phase III June 2017 30 Thiruvananthapuram, Naya Raipur, Rajkot, Amaravati, Patna, Karimnagar, Muzaffarpur, Puducherry, Gandhinagar, Srinagar, Sagar, Karnal, Satna, Bengaluru, Shimla, Dehradun, Jhansi, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Bilaspur, Pasighat, Jammu, Dahod, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur, Aizawl, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Gangtok
Phase IV January 2018 10 Erode, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Itanagar, Silvassa, Diu, Kavaratti, Bihar Sharif
Phase IV (Ext.) June 2018 1 Shillong

Challenges and criticism

The programme has faced delays in the selection of cities, and in the execution of the projects. Originally envisaged for completion by 2020, the project deadline was extended by three years, as the list of cities were finalised only in 2018. As of 2019, of the ₹166 billion (US$2.0 billion) allocated to the mission, only 21% had been spent.[30] The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that of 44 initially approved projects in Patna, 29 had not started by October 2022 due to issues such as non-availability of land, overlapping responsibilities, and feasibility concerns.[31] A 2021 found that about 49% of the projects across the cities for which work orders had been issued remained incomplete.[32] By 2025, only 18 out of the 100 cities had declared full completion of all planned projects.[33]

The CAG report cited deficient financial administration, including the inclusion of unfeasible projects, diversion of funds to unapproved activities, and submission of incorrect utilisation certificates as issues.[34] Inadequate public consultation, and lack of coordination between agencies were cited by the public as reasons for the delay.[35] A 2025 report indicated that the smart city projects neglected ecological planning, prioritising aesthetic or technological infrastructure over environmental resilience, with reported instances of encroachment on wetlands, destruction of tree cover, and degradation of public commons.[36] Rights groups have pointed out that low-income groups and informal settlements were often left out of planning and benefit-sharing processes, with documented cases of displacement or threats of eviction linked to the development under the project in various cities.[37]

Of the projects completed, there were complaints from local residents on poor coordination and mismatch between what was planned and the end output. In Thiruvananthapuram, a newly constructed road worth ₹330 million (US$3.9 million) had to be dug up shortly after inauguration to fix a sewage leak, raising concerns about the planning and sustenance of the projects.[38] In Nagpur, nearly half of the 3,686 CCTV cameras installed under the project were non-functional within a year due to poor maintenance.[39]

References

  1. "Team, Smart cities". Government of India.
  2. Khairnar, Abhinav (7 April 2025). "Smart City project ends officially but citizens disappointed". The Hindustan Times.
  3. "Total proposed investment in 99 smart cities to be Rs.203979 crores". 19 January 2018.
  4. Mission Statement and Guidelines – Smart Cities (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.
  5. Dashboard of Smart Cities Mission (Report). Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.
  6. "Smart City project: We start small so that it can be replicated, says govt". Indian Express. 14 June 2017.
  7. "About the mission, Smart cities". Government of India.
  8. "Challenges :: Smart Cities Mission". Government of India.
  9. Smart cities in each state (PDF) (Report). Government of India.
  10. "9 more cities added to Smart City Mission, total now 99". Times of India. 19 January 2018.
  11. "Despite slow execution, TN gets most smart cities; M.P. tops in project completion". Business Line. 26 June 2019.
  12. "SPV: Smart cities mission". Government of India.
  13. "Prime Minister launches Smart Cities, AMRUT, Urban Housing Missions". Press Information Bureau. 25 June 2015.
  14. "Cabinet nod To Rs 1 lakh cr for urban renewal, 98 smart cities to take off". Business Standard.
  15. Demand for Grants 2021-22 Analysis : Housing and Urban Affairs (Report). Government of India.
  16. "Budget 2023: More money for smart cities as FM Sitharaman announces urban infra fund". CNBC. 3 February 2023.
  17. "Smart Cities Mission Achievements". Press Information Bureau. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025.
  18. "Smart Cities Mission set to end on March 31, but 7% projects likely to go on". The Indian Express. 16 March 2025.
  19. "List of 98 Smart Cities". The Times of India. 27 August 2015.
  20. "Centre unveils list of 98 smart cities; UP, TN strike it rich". The Hindu. 28 August 2015.
  21. "Mamata vs Modi govt: 5 central schemes stonewalled by the West Bengal CM". Hindustan Times. 29 March 2017.
  22. "Mumbai, Navi Mumbai may not make it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet Smart Cities' project". Hindustan Times. 21 September 2016.
  23. "Ranking of smart cities, Ranchi is the second among the cities of Smart City Mission". Prabhat Khabar.
  24. "No time extension beyond December 15 for Smart City plan". The Economic Times. 3 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
  25. Smart cities phase 2 winners (PDF) (Report). Government of India.
  26. "Amritsar tops new smart city list". Times of India. 13 July 2017.
  27. "New list of 30 smart cities is out. Did your city make the cut?". India Today. 23 June 2017.
  28. "Thiruvananthapuram tops list of 30 new smart cities". Economic Times. 17 June 2017.
  29. "SmartCities.gov.in". smartcities.gov.in.
  30. "India election 2019: Have 100 'smart cities' been built?". BBC News. 25 March 2019.
  31. "Poor planning, management delayed projects in Patna Smart Cities Mission: CAG". Business Standard. 26 July 2024.
  32. "Smart City Deadline Looms But Targets Remain Distant". India Spend.
  33. "After a decade of its launch, only 18 of 100 cities have completed Smart Cities Mission projects". Down To Earth. 29 April 2025.
  34. "Poor planning, deficient finance mgmt result in delayed projects in Patna Smart Cities Mission: CAG". The Print. 27 September 2025.
  35. "Residents unhappy with Smart City Mission projects in Ludhiana West constituency". The Times of India. 11 June 2025.
  36. "India's tech-driven Smart Cities Mission has destroyed the commons". Scroll.in. 24 August 2025.
  37. "Report on India's Smart Cities Mission highlights serious human rights concerns". Habitat International Coalition.
  38. "Smart City road worth Rs 33 crore dug up to repair sewage leak". The Times of India. 4 October 2025.
  39. "Crumbling security: 1,500 CCTVs of 3,686 non-functional". The Times of India. 6 May 2025.