CHENNAI: Despite the recent historic rains delaying State government officials in submitting their proposals, two cities from Tamil Nadu — Chennai and Coimbatore — have made it to the list of 20 cities selected under the Union Government’s ambitious smart city project.
The list of selected cities were announced on Thursday, when Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu remarked “The competition (among the cities to get selected) was as rigorous as the civil services exam.”
Officials said some of the areas in which the government would invest huge grants are: creating a network of pedestrian and cycle friendly streets, cycle-sharing for last-mile connectivity, implementing smart parking management system on street and off street, smart metering, rainwater harvesting and improving water supply and drainage. “The smart city project, which required pan city as well as area-based proposal, was estimated to be around Rs 1366.24 crore (for Chennai alone),” said Shankar Armugham, Head, Urban Solutions, Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a real estate services firm, which, along with Townland Consultants and Tata Consulting Engineers, helped Chennai Corporation to prepare the plan.
THE CHOSEN ONES
1. Bhubaneswar 2. Pune 3. Jaipur 4. Surat 5. Kochi 6. Ahmedabad 7. Jabalpur 8. Vishakapatnam 9. Sholapur 10. Davangere 11. Indore 12. New Delhi (New Delhi municipal council area) 13. Coimbatore 14. Kakinada 15. Belagavi 16. Udaipur 17. Guwahati 18. Chennai 19. Ludhiana 20. Bhopal