(FE)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP led NDA government have been banking big on the flagship scheme Smart City Mission to transform the urban landscape of India. But 80 per cent of the investment granted by the central government will be utilized for 2.7 per cent of the cumulative area of 59 cities which were selected in the first phase, according to Indian Express report. According to report, Rs 1.05 lakh crore out of total Rs 1.31 lakh crore will be spent on Area Based Development (ABD) component of the 59 cities from 2015 to 2020, the report says. This ABD refers to certain pockets in the selected cities where facilities such as WiFi hotspots, sensor-based public lighting, redesign of streets, zones promoting start-ups and multi-modal transit points will be available. Now these pockets will cover 246 sq km of which is mere 2.7 per cent of the total area of 9,065 sq km, the report says. So, roughly 80 per cent of the total funds will spent for building infrastructure on 2.7 per cent of a city.
