PM Narendra Modi and the BJP led NDA government’s pet project at the moment is the Smart City Mission. Visakhapatnam is one of the cities chosen to be developed in the first phase.
The mission that was launched on June 25 in 2015 has the aim to develop 100 cities across the country in a five-year period. Reports state that 80% of the fund granted by the central government will be utilised by the 59 cities selected in the first phase to develop only 2.7 % of their total area.
Out of the Rs 1.31 lakh crore, Rs 1.05 lakh crore will be spent on Area Based Development. The focus will be on providing facilities such a WiFi hotspots, sensor based public lighting, redesigning the streets, and zones put in for promotion of start-ups and multi-modal transit points.
Visakhapatnam, Jabalpur and Indore will be spending 90% of the proposed fund on less than 2% of the city area. Bhubaneswar – the top contender – will spend Rs 4,537 crore on less than 3% of the city.
The Urban Development Ministry will be announcing the next 40 cities to be developed by the end of this month. Rs 48,000 crore has been earmarked for the same. Each city will be given Rs 500 crore over a period of five years by the centre for the development.
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