The deadline for all states to complete two Smart City Mission projects has been extended to March 2025 after an appeal from Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. The deadline for the Smart City Mission, a Union government scheme intended to ensure sustainable cities, ended on June 30.
This extension comes after CM Revanth appealed to the Union minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Kattar at a meeting in New Delhi, held on June 24.
“As many as 45 smart city-related works have been completed in Warangal. Another 66 works at the cost of Rs 518 crore are under progress. Similarly, 25 works were completed and another 22 works worth Rs 287 crore are in progress in Karimnagar,” the appeal stated.
A communication from the Union government confirmed that no new projects will be sanctioned under this extension. Funding for ongoing projects will be released on a first-come, first-served basis until September 2024.
Warangal and Karimnagar were selected for the Smart Cities Mission project by the Union government in May 2016, a year after the mission’s launch. At the time of this announcement, the BJP led Union government had said it wanted to ensure that the selected cities would have internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure.
As per the mission’s guidelines, every Smart City is entitled to receive Rs 500 crore from the Union government over a period of five years. The state or the urban local body needs to match this with an equal amount.
The previous Telangana government headed by the now opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) had come under fire for refusing to release its share of funds for both its smart cities.