Govt to hold contest to measure impact and quality of smart city projects

The ministry of housing and urban affairs is set to make states and union territories compete once again for a total prize money of Rs 50 lakh, in a contest organized to assess the quality and impact of ongoing smart city projects.

According to sources, the ministry has already circulated a concept note and guidelines on the contest to all states and UTs. Aimed at rewarding cities, projects and innovative ideas promoting Smart City Mission goals, all projects to be completed by April 1, 2018, will be eligible for participation, a senior official said.

Awards in nine categories including project awards, innovative idea, and city will be presented on June 25 next year marking the third anniversary of the launch of Smart City Mission, an official said.

Impact, innovation, and scalability in other areas of the city will comprise the evaluation criteria.

Under the Project Awards category, categories such as Improving Governance, Social Aspects, Culture and Economy, Environment Impact, Transportation and Mobility and Water and Sanitation would be awarded excellence. Best performers in each of these nine categories will be awarded Rs5 lakh each and a scroll.

Ninety cities have so far been identified so far under the Smart Cities Mission and an investment of Rs 1.91 lakh crore has been proposed by the cities.

The first batch of 20 smart cities was announced in January last year, followed by another 13 through in May last year, 27 cities in September last year and another 30 cities in June this year.