Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi on Saturday evening inaugurated various ‘Smart City Projects’ under the Smart Cities Mission at a function in Pune, Maharashtra.
Modi launched 84 such projects including 14 for Pune, for various other cities across the country, at an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore.
The 20 selected Smart Cities were linked to the Pune venue through videoconferencing wherein their states’ Chief Ministers and other leaders gave details of their plans for the Smart Cities in their states and interacted with the PM.
Modi visited an expo on Smart Cities, inaugurated a contest on ‘Make Your City Smart’ and a Smart Net Portal on the occasion at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, on the outskirts of Pune.
Maharashtra Governor CV Rao, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion to a packed audience in the 5,000 capacity Shiv Chatrpati Sports Complex in Pune, Prime Minister said that Smart City Mission is now succeeding as a people’s movement as envisaged. He expressed satisfaction over citizen participation in preparation of smart city plans of various cities with over 25 lakh people giving serious suggestions on MyGov.in.
Modi clarified that the central government did not select the smart cities but it was the citizens who enabled their selection in the City Challenge Competition.
Prime Minister launched ‘Make Your City Smart’ contest inviting people to come out with designs for street, junctions and open spaces and a ‘Smart Net Portal’ which is a net based platform for sharing of ideas and sourcing of solutions for smart city development.
Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu said that the smart city projects launched today were the first shoots of urban renaissance taking place in the country as a result of paradigm shift in the approaches to urban development ushered in by the government.
Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Naveen Patnaik and N Chandrababu Naidu outlined their smart city vision through videolink.
