Urban Development Ministry asks smart cities to firm up bankable projects

NEW DELHI: Urban Development Ministry has asked the 20 cities, selected for smart cities in the first round, to "quickly firm up" bankable projects for obtaining loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the BRICS Development Bank.

Urban Development Secretary Rajiv Gauba said this during a review meeting here with the officials of eight smart cities, namely Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Udaipur, Jaipur, Ludhiana and Jabalpur.

While BRICS Development Bank is "keen to support" smart city projects, the ADB has in-principle agreed to extend a loan of USD 1 billion and the World Bank USD 0.50 billion for the implementation of Smart City Mission, according to an official release.

Gauba also stressed on mobilisation of resources through Municipal Bonds and urged the cities to act quickly to obtain credit ratings from agencies approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI).

He said process for credit rating of 85 cities has already begun under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and all the 500 mission cities shall complete this process in the next one year, according to the release.

The eight cities that participated in the review meeting furnished details of the projects--including affordable housing, water supply, sewage treatment plants, transport, smart street lighting, and solid waste management--that could be launched by June.