Construction in 20 smart cities to start on June 25: Venkaiah

Construction activity in first 20 smart cities will commence on June 25, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said in an interview to Bloomberg TV. He said, “Detailed project reports for the first 20 smart cities have been approved. We are going to start the construction on these cities on June 25.”

The minister also said that the names of another 13-14 cities will be announced on either May 22 or May 23.”We had given opportunity to 23 cities which could not find place in the first list. The competition is over now,” he said.

Naidu further added that a lot of international funding agencies are showing interest in participating in the Government’s smart city scheme and ambassadors of around 34 countries have met him to discuss the same.Six Ambassadors representing US, UK, Japan, Germany, Korea, Spain met him on Thursday about finding opportunities in smart cities, he informed.

A total investment of Rs 50,802 crore has been proposed in these 20 cities and towns during a five-year period, of which, Rs 38,693 crore will be spent on area development and Rs 12,109 crore on a total of 56 pan-city solutions.

A total area of 26,735 acres will be taken up for improvements in these 20 cities including redevelopment of 425 acres in Bhopal (350 acres) and Ahmedabad (75 acres).