Indian Government has announced by word of the Minister of Urban Development its list of 20 Smart Cities from 11 States and Delhi.

20 Winning cities have proposed a total investment of Rs.50,802 cr (7,6 billion Euro) over five years with all the cities proposing Public-Private-Partnership as a major vehicle of resource mobilization. A total area of 26,735 acres has been identified by these cities for making them smart through necessary interventions.

Elaborating on the advantages of Smart City Mission, the Minister Naidu said that this leads to integrated urban planning by addressing the issue of infrastructure, land use planning, transport, urban design and architecture in a holistic manner unlike in the past. Stating that building a smart city is not a destination but a series of small steps in that direction.

The Smart City plan was launched to support the fast urbanization and sustainable growth in India. Studies show that India has to built between 700-900 million sqft of residential and commercial space a year until 2030: equivalent of adding more than 2 Mumbai’s every year.

Among the 20 Smart Cities are: Jaipur, Udaipur (Rajasthan), Surat and Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

The list of Smart Cities is published by the Press Information Bureau on Jan 29, 2016.