List of Smart Cities in India

What are Smart Cities in India and Their Mission

Indian Government has set up a mission to improve the citizens’ quality of life in the local area development and encourage technology which leads to smart results. 

Around 100 cities were selected for the smart city mission. These cities were assisted to create a unique identity and encourage their culture. 

This mission was launched on 25th June 2015. The Prime Minister of India has initiated this program and the Union Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for its successful implementation. 

The core developmental elements which have been implemented in a smart city include the following:

1. Sustainable environment
2. Health and education
3. Proper water and electric supply
4. Solid waste management and sanitation
5. Health and Education
6. e-Governance and citizen participation 
7. Affordable housing facilities for the poor
8. IT connectivity and digitalization 
9. Efficient urban mobility and public transport

The Smart solutions have been implemented to achieve the Smart Mission:

• E-Governance and Citizen Services 
  • Public information, grievance redressal
  • Delivery of Electronic Service 
  • Citizen Engagement 
  • Citizens-City’s Eyes and Ears
  • Video Crime Monitoring 
• Energy Management 
  • Smart management 
  • Smart meters
  • Renewable sources of energy 
  • Energy-efficient & green buildings
• Waste Management
  • Waste to Energy 
  • Waste of fuel
  • Wastewater management 
  • Recycling and reduction of C&D waste
• Water Management
  • Leakage identification, preventive maintenance 
  • Water Quality Monitoring 
  • Smart Management 
  • Smart Meters  
• Urban Mobility
  • Integrated Multi-Modal Transport 
  • Intelligent Traffic Management 
  • Smart Parking  
• Others 
  • Skill Development Centers 
  • Incubation/Trade Facilitation Centers
  • Tele-Medicine & Tele Education 

Features of Smart Cities in India

The main purpose of the Smart City Mission is to enhance the economic growth of every city by encouraging the quality of life of the citizens.  

There are specific features that have been maintained during the implementation of the Smart City mission:

• Applying Smart Solutions to Area-Based Development. 
• Housing and inclusiveness will expand the housing opportunities for every city 
• Promoting the mixed land usage in the Area-Based Developments
• Preserving and developing open spaces 
• Providing the city with an identity
• Reducing congestion, air pollution, and resources to create a walkable situation for the localities
• The governance will be made cost-effective and citizen-friendly
• Different transport options will be provided 

Smart Cities in India List

The initial objective of the Smart City Mission was to provide facilities to 100 selected cities among the States and UTs. 

There has been a selection process which was called the ‘city challenge’. Two stages were there in the selection process.

• Stage 1 

Shortlisting the cities by States: In this stage, the cities have competed over the current condition and the scoring criteria.

• Stage 2

Challenge round for selection: All the cities selected in stage 1 had presented a proposal for retrofitting or redevelopment of the greenfield development along with the Pan-City dimension.

100 Smart Cities in India

The Mission of Smart City began with 100 cities and the completion date was set for projects between 2019 and 2023. 

Around 100 cities were selected in stage 2 for the Smart City Solution. 

In the 1st slot, West Bengal, Mumbai, and Navi Mumbai submitted the proposal but later they withdrew the application.

In 2019, around 11% of the total projects have been successful. In 2022, around 3577 projects were completed out of 6939 projects.  

Most of the cities were selected from Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. the list of 100 Smart Cities in India is the following:

Top 10 Smart Cities in India

Some cities have performed outstandingly in the Smart City mission and they are currently ranking in the top 10 smart cities in India list. 

As per the requirement, let’s check which 10 cities have managed to grab their position in the list of Smart :

Bhubaneshwar

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Building Basic Sub-Plan
• TOD Sub-plan projects for Railway Station Multimodal Hub, Lake Neutral 
• Urban Mobility Sub-Plan for roads, cycle lanes, PBS, and E-Rickshaw scheme
• Housing for All Sub-Plan
• Social Development Sub-Plan for initiatives like the Museum of Urban History, I am BBSR
• Economic Development Sub-Plan for Invest BBSR and skill development initiatives
• Basic Services Sub-Plan for providing 24X7 Energy and Water Supply; Decentralized Sewage
• Technology For All Sub-Plan for City Wi-Fi Project, Smart metering, and Digital Literacy
• Future Proofing Sub-Plan for LED Street Lighting, Solar City-Rooftop, and Disaster Management Plan
• Traffic Management
• Parking Management 
• Bus Service Operations 
• Common Payment Card 
• Emergency Response & City Incidence Management
• Command Control Centre 
• Pan City 

Pune

 Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Transport 
• Water 
• Electricity & Solar 
• ABD 
• Pan city
• Transport 
• Pan-water

Jaipur 

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Sustainability Mobility Corridors
• Heritage & Tourism
• Smart Civic Infrastructure
• Pan City Proposal
• Multi-Modal Public Transit Central Operation & Management center
• Smart Mobility card
• Solid Waste Management
• Public Information System

Surat 

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Water Supply Management, Quality & Water Recharging 
• Sewage – Recycle & Reuse and Storm Water 
• Renewable Energy Sources (Solar, Wind & Biogas) & Street Light 
• Town Planning & Development 
• Smart Parking (Mechanized)
• Skywalk (Travelator)
• Visual Improvement in Area
• Economic Development
• Logistic Park 
• Incubation/ Start-Up centre 
• Housing & Inclusiveness (Affordable Housing)

Ludhiana

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Water Management System 
• Power Improvement 
• Improvement Drainage System 
• Solid Waste Management
• Landscaping & Signages
• Pan City 

Kochi 

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Water Supply – west Kochi and general 
• UGSS 
• NMT Roads and Pedestrianized areas
• Main roads 
• Energy Supply – west Kochi and mainland
• Energy efficiency 
• Solid Waste Management and sanitation
• Parks and Open spaces 
• Canal restoration 
• Urban mobility
• Housing 
• Health 
• Education 
• Safety and Security
• Other Social Infrastructure
• Identity and culture 
• Pan city 
• 24/7 Water Supply Pan-city
• Integrated City APP

Ahmedabad

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Retrofitting Wadaj TOZ
• Redevelopment Wadaj Slum 
• Smart Features like adding solar energy, rainwater harvesting, etc. 
• Pan city 
• Smart Transit Integrated Transit Management Platform + CCPS 
• Command & Control Centre, OFC Network, and Integration of Services

New Delhi

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Urban Mobility & Smart Parking 
• Municipal Solid Waste Management
• Pan city 
• Smart water and wastewater management 
• Smart education 
• Smart health

Solapur

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• 100% waste management 
• NMT 
• Clean and efficient energy usage 
• Efficient transportation 
• Area wide surveillance network
• Efficient water supply 
• Efficient wastewater recycling 
• Efficiency usage of the public spaces 
• Pan city 

Udaipur

Area Based Development (ABD) which were undertaken are provided in the following:

• Redevelopment and retrofitting 
• Markets and commercial area 
• Open spaces, parks, and gardens 
• Public spaces
• Heritage conservation 
• waterfront/ riverfront development

The Importance of Smart Cities in India

Smart cities across the country can help to uplift the quality of living overall. A lot of changes require large-scale infrastructure development when it is properly planned on a legal ground. 

Depending on the location, culture, and demographic stages, each city is selected and provided with funding for its development by Central Government. 

It will help the quality of the landscape of Indian cities, making them more habitable. Automated solutions will eventually enable this. 

It has an impact on nearly every element of life, including infrastructure, ecology, social integration, jobs, and economic growth. 

The lifestyle change will not be drastic, but rather subtle and easy to adapt.

Challenges in Managing Smart Cities in India

The government had to face some challenges while implementing the Smart City Mission in India. Some of the challenges are listed below. 

• Technical Obstacles: the Smart City Mission focuses on introducing and enhancing smart technologies in urban areas. However, the major constraint here was the urban areas did not have local technological facilities for the development.   
• Refrotting Existing Infrastructure: due to a lot of investment from the government, the cities are performing well which is attracting buyers to buy property in India. However, it is important to analyze the weak areas of the city where retrofitting can be done. There is some historical importance that cannot be retrofitted. Hence, finding the required areas and retrofitting them was a challenge. 
• Coordinating the 3-Tier Governance: for a successful implementation of the project, it is important that the government in central, state, and local body should coordinate with each other. However, due to a lack of coordination, the project faced challenges. 
• Finances: the finalized budget for the Smart City Mission was Rs 9940 Crores. However, the actual project went up to Rs 191155 Crores. It was a challenge to keep the finance flow in to complete the project at the required time.  
• Urbanizing the Public Transport: due to inadequate transport systems available in most of the cities, the government faced challenges in urbanizing most of the cities. Urban mobility should be strong to connect different cities and people.

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