Nagpur: The BJP-led government in Maharashtra said it will need an investment of Rs 5,000 crore to develop 10 smart cities in the state.
It will soon set up a committee, led by chief secretary Swadhin Kshatriya, to select 10 cities with a population of more than one lakh in the first phase and prepare a detail project report (DPR).
The government has to submit DPR of the proposed 10 smart cities to the Centre by July 31.
The minister of state for urban development Ranjit Patil told media, “The selection of cities will be purely demand-driven. The decision in this regard will have to be taken by the people of the city and the urban local bodies. Cities will have to fulfill some key cardinal benchmarks including reforms in the administration, improvement in tax collection including water cess, improvement in water supply and under ground drainage systems and energy management.”
He added that the Rs 5,000 crore investment figure is a preliminary estimate and the exact number will only be possible after the DPR in place.
Patil, who accompanied chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in New Delhi on Thursday when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the ambitious project of 100 smart cities, said the reforms and competition are the buzz words for the selection of 10 smart cities in the state.
A government official said Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Thane, the powerloom town Bhivandi, Jalgaon and Shirdi may fulfill the criteria.
However, the official added that the competition for selection of cities will be based on points system. The state government will indicate resource tie-ups under state level action plans so that it will be entitled for the central funding.
