Government announces first batch of 20 smart cities from 11 States and Delhi

The Government announced the 20 winners of the Smart City Challenge competition for financing during this financial year.

The winners were from 11 States and the Union Territory of Delhi and the selection was totally objective and transparent based on standardized processes.

Here is the list:

Rank	City	State
1	Bhubaneswar	Odisha
2	Pune	Maharashtra
3	Jaipur	Rajasthan
4.	Surat	Gujarat
5	Kochi	Kerala
6	Ahmedabad	Gujarat
7	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh
8	Visakhapatnam	Andhra Pradesh
9	|Solapur	Maharashtra
10	Davanagere	Karnataka
11	Indore	MP
12	Municipal Council	Delhi
13	Combattore	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

Smart city competition :

The India Smart Cities Challenge is designed to inspire greater creativity from municipal officials and their partners, more involvement and inspiration from citizens, and the development of proposals that will produce concrete benefits in people’s lives.

IN THE FIRST YEAR, CITIES WILL COMPETE FOR FUNDING:

• All states will use standardized criteria to pick their cities for the competition. Every state is guaranteed at least one city in the competition.

• Cities judged to have the best proposals will receive funding. The remaining cities will have the chance to compete again next year.

• The challenge will run three times : 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18.

2015-16 challenge:

JUNE – JULY 2015: Indian states nominated cities that meet select criteria to participate in the competition.

AUGUST – DECEMBER 2015: Each city formulated its own unique vision, mission and plan for a “smart city.” Their concepts reflected the city’s local context, resources, and priorities of citizens. Each city develops a pan-city and area-based proposal.

JANUARY 2016: A small number of cities – those with exceptional proposals – are named winners. Remaining cities will have the chance to compete in the next competition cycle.

The Challenge required municipal leaders and their partners to consult the public to develop proposals that are both sound and have a high likelihood of being implemented. Proposed solutions must strengthen the city’s governance or its physical, social, or economic infrastructure.

What must be the Plan ?

• A Bold Vision: Each city must convey its own unique vision that reflects local context, its resources, and the priorities and aspirations of its citizens.

• A Pan-City Initiative: Cities should draw inspiration from smart solutions that incorporate the use of technology, information and data to improve services or results for citizens. The pan-city initiative must touch the lives of many, or potentially all, of its citizens.

• An Area-Based Development Plan: This plan will transform an existing place within each city, creating an exemplar for other areas in the city, or across the country, to follow. Depending on local circumstances, cities may choose one of three approaches: retrofitting, redevelopment, or greenfield development.