Government today announced the list of the Top 20 cities to be developed as Smart Cities in the first phase. The list was topped by Bhubhaneshwar and followed by Pune and Jaipur. Interestingly, Udaipur is also one of the cities to be developed and found a mention at the 16th position.

This is result of efforts of all citizen of Udaipur as citizen participation was mandatory for preparation of Smart City plan and a weightage of 16% was given towards the same.

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu announced the ranking at a press conference in Delhi today. The following cities made it to the list: Bhubhaneshwar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Vishakhapatnam, Solapur, Davangere, Indore, New Delhi, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belgaum, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal.

In subsequent years, 40 cities each will be announced in two more phases to accomplish Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of 100 Smart Cities in the country.

The cities were selected on a variety of parameters including Swachh Bharat, Make in India, good governance and e-governance.

As a smart city, Udaipur will be spruced up to provide world-class and sustainable infrastructure for giving a decent life to its citizens. This will include uninterrupted clean water and power supply, high-speed internet, good quality roads, sustainable public transport, efficient waste disposal, affordable housing along with digitised public services.

The project cost for each smart city will be split between the Central and State Government.

Venkaiah Naidu said that “The Smart City Challenge Competition was as rigorous and demanding as the Civil Services competition conducted by UPSC”. He further added that this announcement marks a paradigm shift in our approach to Urban Development in India.