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HYDERABAD: The Union government will announce the names of 100 cities on September 1 that would be developed as smart cities. Based on the City Challenge Competition, conducted over a three-month duration, only 20 cities would eventually make it to the first-list, Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu has said.

He was speaking at the inaugural event of the National Conclave on Smart Technologies, a two-day conference of the Smart Cities Council India, held here on Saturday. The aspiring cities would be shortlisted based on their ability to achieve the envisaged objectives of the flagship programme of the Narendra Modi government.

“Various parameters will be taken into consideration and those were communicated to cities already. During the competition, some cities might get added to the list while some may be eliminated. It is a continuous process,” he pointed out.Accordingly, the target of 100 smart cities would be achieved in three phases: 20 in first phase, 40 each in second and third phase.

Explaining about the initiative, the minister said the implementation of the programme would be carried out by Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in every selected city. The SPV will be headed by a full-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and have members from state and Central governments, he added.

“Initially, the government will provide Rs 100-crore fund to the SPV and there will be a matching fund from state governments and local bodies,” the minister added.

He lamented that local bodies were refraining from ‘bold steps’ like increasing the user-charges fearing a backlash from the public.

It would not suffice to make a city smarter with technology alone and called leaders to work towards changing the mindset of the people, he said.

Meanwhile, IT minister KT Rama Rao informed that fibre optic line is being laid along with pipelines for the Water Grid project to provide broadband connectivity to all households in the State.Emphasising that India still resides in villages, Rama Rao appealed to the Centre to come out with a programme to provide technology to farmers to improve the yield. Pratap Padode, founder and director, Smart Cities Council India, also spoke.

TS Gets Rs 29 Cr Central Funds for Swachh Bharat Programme

Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu handed over the budget release order of Rs 29.15 crore, towards the Swachh Bharat programme to panchayat raj minister KT Rama Rao here on Saturday. The funds meant for building toilets for all households in the state, is the second instalment received by the state government under the programme. Telangana is the first state to receive the second instalment amount in the country. The state government received Rs 28.95 crore as first instalment, and in all the state will get Rs 413.74 crore towards the initiative.