Smart Cities Mission in India-A Study

Cities are engines of growth for the economy of every nation including India. According to Census2011, nearly 31% of India’s population lives in urban areas and contributes 63% of India’s GDP. By 2030, it is expected that growing urbanization will lead to 40% of population in Urban areas and roughly 75% of India’s GDP. Cities thus, need to develop comprehensively to accommodate the migrating population. This requires development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure. To set in motion the virtuous cycle of growth, development of ‘Smart Cities’ is a way out. A ‘Smart City’ is conceptualization of an idea that varies from country to country and from region to region. For India, the picture of a ‘Smart City’ is a building that stands tall and firm on its pillars of institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructural developments. Long term goals can lead this concept by adding layers of ‘smartness’. National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting programme by the Government of India with the mission to develop Smart Cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Development initiated the mission in collaboration with State Governments of various cities in 2015.It planned to include 100 cities with the deadline of completion of projects between 2019-2023.As of July 2024, 7202 projects out of a total 8018 tendered projects have been completed, utilizing ₹ 144,530 crores out of the total tendered amount of ₹164,163 crores. This paper is an attempt to study the concept of ‘Smart City’, the challenges of urbanization, the Smart Cities Mission of Government of India- its implementation, results so far and the future that lies ahead. The analysis of data available would be used to structure a course of action indicative of the aim of Viksit Bharat @2047.