Smart City Updates
Surat tops in Smart city project implementation
Surat left behind its contender cities Pune, Visakhapatnam, Udaipur, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Jaipur and Indore, bagging the top rank for carrying out maximum number of projects under smart city projects. After being chosen by the Modi Government as the top 20 cities to be shaped into smart cities, these 20 cities opted for solar projects, improvement of water supply and smart roads while the other cities chose to focus on infrastructure. As per the sources, the cities’ slow performance can be attributed to the fact that smart city concept was new and special purpose vehicle (SPV) conceptualized to supervise and manage the progress of the Smart City Mission took time to flow. Ministry of housing and urban affairs puts on record that 964 projects worth Rs 46,800 crore have been planned in the 20 "lighthouse" smart cities in January 2016. Its noteworthy that Surat is the 4th-fastest growing city according to a study conducted by international think tank, City Mayors Foundation. Among its many achievements, the most remarkable are; Surat was awarded "best city" by the Annual Survey of India's City-Systems in 2013 and claimed as the 3rd cleanest city of India according to the Indian Ministry of Urban Development.
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