Panaji misses Smart City bus; neighbouring Belgaum, Pune among 20
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 28 January 2016 18:07 IST
Panaji missed the bus of a Smart City. It is not among the 20 cities chosen for the prestigious projects by the central government.
Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha, topped the list announced by union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu today.
Belagavi (Belgaum) of Karnataka and Pune of Maharashtra, which Goans quite frequent to, will be developed as the Smart Cities.
Davangere of Karnataka is also being chosen for the Smart City project.
While announcing the list, Naidu said an investment of Rs 50,802 crore has been proposed in the selected smart cities and towns during the five-year period.
In the future, the government plans to announce 40 cities each to be developed as a smart city.
The list includes 3 cities from Rajasthan, 2 each from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and one each from Odisha, Kerala, Assam, Punjab and India’s capital city of New Delhi.
The selected cities will be equipped with basic infrastructure, efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity and e-governance mechanisms.
Following is the ranking of the Smart Cities chosen:
1. Bhubaneswar, Odisha
2. Pune, Maharashtra
3. Jaipur, Rajasthan
4. Surat, Gujarat
5. Kochi, Kerala
6. Ahmedabad, Gujarat
7. Jabalpur, Rajasthan
8. Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
9. Sholapur, Maharashtra
10. Davangere, Karnataka
11. Indore, Madhya Pradesh
12. New Delhi Municipal Corporation
13. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
14. Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh
15. Belagavi, Karnataka
16. Udaipur, Rajasthan
17. Guwahati, Assam
18. Chennai, Tamil Nadu
19. Ludhiana, Punjab
20. Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Comment contd... Panaji was not included since central govt is aware that in Goa implementation of any new plan is difficult. Here for any minor things people's consent is required, then environmentalists, heritage lovers, right activists, etc.