BUDGET 2016: OVER RS 7,290 CRORE ALLOCATED FOR AMRUT, ‘SMART CITIES’ IN BUDGET

The government yesterday allocated about Rs 7,296 crore for two central schemes — Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and ‘Smart Cities’ Mission.

The general budget 2016-17 earmarked an amount of Rs 3,205 cr for the development of 100 smart cities across the country by 2020, while nearly Rs 4,091 crore for AMRUT.

Under the smart cities projects, names of the first 20 cities, including Bhubaneswar, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bhopal, were announced late last month.

Urban Development Ministry had in June last year released the guidelines and mission statement for the project to develop 100 such cities. The focus of the mission, a flagship programme of the Modi government, includes provision of clean water, setting up of sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient mobility and public transportation and affordable housing.  The next 40 cities would be announced in the second phase and the rest in the third phase.

Under the programme, each selected city will be given Rs 500 crore over a period of five years by the Centre with the respective states expected to make a matching contribution.

As regards AMRUT, it was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015 with the mission of providing basic services, including water supply, sewerage, urban transport and building of amenities in cities to improve quality of life.