Centre has requested the Meghalaya government to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) so that works on Smart City Projects of Shillong could be initiated. Shillong has recently been selected as the 100th Smart city.
Centre has selected 100 cities for urban transformation under its ambitious Smart City mission and Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya was chosen as 100th Smart City after evaluating the proposal submitted by it.
Forming of SPV is crucial for the implementation of the smart city projects as it is the main executing body on the ground. “As a first step, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is required to be established by the city with a Chief Executive Officer as its head,” said a letter written by the ministry of urban affairs to the Meghalaya government on July 4.
“The State Government of Meghalaya is, therefore, requested to establish the SPV in terms of the Mission Guidelines under intimation to this Ministry at the earliest. Further, the city of Shillong may also be directed to start the process/activities and appraise this Ministry about the action taken regularly,” said the letter.
20 cities were selected in January 2016, 13 cities in May 2016, 27 cities in September 2016, 30 cities in June 2017 and 9 cities in January 2018. With the selection of Shillong, the total proposed investment in the finally selected 100 cities under the Smart Cities Mission would be Rs.2,05,018 crores.