• UGI USER
  • Oct 04, 2023
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Q. The Smart Cities Mission, which was launched to change the urban landscape of India has produced mixed results. Discuss. Also, highlight the challenges faced in executing the Mission.

 

Approach

  • Briefly introduce the Smart Cities Mission.
  • Write about the achievements and shortcomings of the Smart Cities Mission.
  • Write challenges faced by the Smart Cities Mission.
  • Conclude accordingly.

Answer

  • The Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) in 2015, to improve the ease of living of citizens and create cities that are ahead of the curve in decision-making and problem-solving. It is being implemented in 100 cities presently.
  • This mission is aimed at providing smart solutions to basic infrastructure like adequate water supply, electricity supply, sustainable sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility, and affordable housing and e-governance, thereby creating a smart landscape in these cities.

Achievements of SCM

  • Completion of Projects: As on July, 2021, 51% of 5,196 projects for which work orders were issued have been completed.
  • Establishment of Smart City Centers (SCC): It has already been done in more than 10 cities such as Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Pune, Nagpur etc.
  • Improvement in service delivery: Impact of SCCs is being felt, especially in five areas such as enhanced quality of services, safety and resilience, inclusiveness in city operations, faster emergency response management, and environmental sustainability.
  • Boost to the startup industry: It has provided a fillip to the entrepreneurial spirit of urban residents, thereby increasing employment.
  • However, the slow progress in implementing the Smart Cities Mission is a matter of concern. Overall, 49% projects are still pending at the end of the Mission’s six-year period.
  • As for utilization of funds, 26 states/UTs have used only over 50 percent of the funds released. Further, the 33 cities selected in the first round of the mission received no funds for over 4 years.

Moreover, the state governments for all 100 cities are lagging in raising their counterpart funds for the projects—the rate is less than 45 percent so far for all cities.

The Mission has also been criticized as being over-ambitious. In this context, the following are the challenges facing the Mission

  • Inadequate private participation: At the outset, SCM had set a target of financing 21% of the total mission cost through private participation. So far, only 15% of the projects under implementation are under public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
  • Financial issues: An analysis of the financial data reveals that the Center, as well as most state and local governments, are finding it difficult to mobilize funds, transfer them to SPVs and use them efficiently.
  • Increasing inequality: The mission has focused on the Area Based Development (ABD) model, where it indirectly incentivizes cities to focus the bulk of their funding on a small portion of the city.
  • Increasing focus on limited sectors of the Smart City: The 5 development categories of Transportation, Energy and Ecology, Water and Sanitation, Housing and Economy constitute almost 80% of the SCM budget. Other categories of IT, Governance, Culture and Heritage, and Health and Education constitute only 15% of the funding.
  • Re-centralization of Power: There has been an increasing role of the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) in the cities, which have encroached upon the functions of the Urban Local Bodies.

 

To make Smart Cities the “cities that work for the people” there needs to be certain steps taken. For instance, the aim of the mission should be to converge with other city projects and break through the silos of various government departments. An enabling environment including governance frameworks, policy protocols, capacities of Urban Local Bodies, and the nature of citizen government engagement needs to be developed to further improve the urban space.