States with smart cities? Uttar Pradesh will be No 1

Uttar Pradesh will get to nominate maximum number of cities to be developed as 'Smart Cities', followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Ahead of the mega launch of NDA government's flagship urban projects, the government has assigned number of cities each state/union territory can nominate under the 100 Smart Cities project as well as those to be developed under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme.

UP leads the pack as it has been given the opportunity to nominate 13 cities to be developed as smart cities, while 54 cities in the state have been identified under AMRUT scheme, according to a senior Urban Development Ministry official.

Tamil Nadu comes second with the allocation of 12 smart cities and 33 AMRUT cities.

While Maharashtra has been alloted 10 cities to nominate under the smart city project, Gujarat and Karnataka are eligible to develop six cities each.

Under AMRUT scheme, 37, 31 and 21 cities have been identified in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka respectively.

Delhi has got one city each for SmartCity and AMRUT. According to the criteria finalised by the government, West Bengal and Rajasthan get to nominate four cities for the smart city project; Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab three cities; Odisha, Haryana, Telangana and Chhatisgarh two cities; and Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Jharkhand, Assam, Himachal, Goa, Arunachal and Chandigarh one city each.

Similarly, under the AMRUT scheme, 31 cities have been  identified in Andhra Pradesh; 30 in Rajasthan; 28 in West Bengal; 27 in Bihar; 19 in Odisha and Haryana; 18 in Kerala; 17 in Punjab; 15 in Telangana and 10 in Chhattisharh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching implementation guidelines for 100 Smart Cities, 500 AMRUT cities and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana on June 25.