Union govt seeks smart cities proposal from states

C Shivakumar
Chennai:

Cities along the coast, hills as well as those having a population
between one to four million could be among the 100 cities to be
developed as Smart Cities.

Official sources said that the Union Ministry of Urban Development has
circulated a draft concept note to state governments on the set of
proposed conditions for eligibility for smart city.

Sources said the Centre has sought proposals for approval of satellite
cities, cities of tourist and religious importance as well as cities
in the 0.2 – 1.0 million population range.

These proposals are likely to be reviewed by a Committee and then
approved by the Central Government.

Sources said that the approval process could be a two stage process.
In the first stage, cities and states will have to submit an
Integrated Smart City Development Plan, based on the Smart City
Reference Framework.



Thereafter, cities would be sanctioned an initial amount for
preparation of professional and comprehensive project reports. Under
the second stage, the development of Project Reports will be appraised
by designated Project Managemnt Units and finally approved by an
Empowered Committee.



It is learnt that cities which desire to participate in the smart city
programme should develop a financing plan along with their smart city
development plan and detailed project reports.

Sources said the financing plan developed for a city or urban
agglomeration could factor resources from multiple government agencies
and departments not restricted to the ambit of urban development
schemes alone.

It is also learnt that the Union government has suggested a set of 13
benchmarks for smart cities. These benchmarks are put forth in the
transport, spatial planning, water supply, sewerage, sanitation, solid
waste management, storm water drainage, electricity, telephone
connections, wi-fi connectivity, healthcare facilities, education,
firefighting and others like renewable energy as well as adopting
green building norms.

Interestingly, both the state and Centre are banking on private sector
for developing smart cities. Sources said that using an average figure
of one million people in each of the 100 smart cities, the total
estimate of investment requirements for the services covered by high
power expert committee comes to Rs seven lakh crore over 20 years.
This translates into an annual requirement of Rs 35,000 crores.
However these estimates need to be analyzed for the purpose of funding
by the Central Government, sources added.

Boxes:

What is a smart city?
Smart Cities are those which have intelligent physical, social,
institutional and economic infrastructure.It works towards ensuring
the best for all its people, regardless of social status, age, income
levels, gender, etc.

Initial proposals as per proposed concept note:

--- One satellite city of each of the cities with a population of 4
million people or more (9 cities)

--- All the cities in the population range of 1 – 4 million people (44 cities)

--- All State/UT Capitals, even if they have a population of less than
one million (17 cities)

--- Cities of tourist and religious importance (10 cities)

--- Cities in the 0.5 to 1.0 million population range (20 cities)

---In Delhi, it is being proposed that DDA will develop a new smart
city through the land pooling scheme as a demonstrative city and the
NDMC area may also be considered for demonstrating all the components
of Smart Cities.

What happens after the city is selected:

The city will have to undertake a tripartite memorandum of
understanding between the Union government, state government, and the
Urban Local Body with following conditions that are proposed.

--- Have an existing master plan that is valid for atleat the next 10
years or one that is likely to be approved shortly

--- Have digitized spatial maps

--Issue all clearances for projects using online processes and in a
time bound manner

--Electronic/Online delivery of all public services

--Free right of way for laying optic fibre networks, water supply
lines, sewerage systems, draining systems and other utilities.

--- Create a platform for effectively communicate with the citizens
and keep them abreast of various activities and plans of the city.

--Adopt tariff structures that are affordable for the poor and yet
minimize waste.

--Create open data platforms that are regularly updated.

--Make all information and decisions taken available in the public domain

-- Set up a regulatory body for all utility services such as water
supply etc. so that a level playing field is made available to the
private sector and tariffs are set in a manner that balances financial
sustainability with quality