Union government releases list of 20 smart cities

The Union government on Thursday released the first list of 20 urban areas that will be developed as smart cities.

"Implementation of smart cities plan will showcase integrated planning. The investment of Rs 50,802 crores has been proposed in selected smart cities and towns during the five-year period," said minister of urban development Venkaiah Naidu, while announcing the list.

"There are five capital cities among the 20 smart cities chosen," Naidu said. "A consortium of only Indian companies was chosen for plans of nine cities from the 20 cities chosen," he added.

The state governments had submitted proposals for 97 cities to the urban development ministry. The selected cities will get basic infrastructure, efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity and e-governance mechanisms.

The government has plans to announce the names of 40 smart cities in the future.

Here is the list of 20 smart cities announced on Thursday:

1. Bhubaneswar
2. Pune
3. Jaipur
4. Surat
5. Kochi
6. Ahmedabad
7. Jabalpur
8. Visakhapatnam
9. Solapur
10. Davangere
11. Indore
12. New Delhi area
13. Coimbatore
14. Kakinada
15. Belgaum
16. Udaipur
17. Guwahati
18. Chennai
19. Ludhiana
20. Bhopal