Cabinet sanctions Rs.98,000 Crore for 100 Smart Cities
Modi government’s two leading schemes – 100 smart cities and urban rejuvenation programme for 500 towns and cities got a nod from the Cabinet. These initiatives are aimed at reorganization of urban landscape and to make such areas more livable and inclusive, besides driving economic growth. A sum of Rs.98,000 crore has been sanctioned to execute these schemes in the next five years. The work is to be undertaken for smaller cities and towns with one lakh or more population under a new scheme named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee – Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The Centre will spend Rs.50,000 crore for this scheme. This will be the new scheme in place of JNNURM named after India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru during the UPA rule. The cities selected through a “city challenge” competition under the smart city initiative will get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years. To start with, around 20 cities would be chosen...