Pune bagged 2nd Spot among the list of 20 cities that have been selected as part of the first batch of the Smart City initiative. Other cities selected in the first batch include Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, Solapur, Davanagere, Indore, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belagavi, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal.
Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Urban Development Minister, announced the first list of 20 cities that will be developed to have basic infrastructure. Assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation are some of the highlights of the initiative.
While announcing the list of cities that were selected through the ‘Smart City Challenge Competition’, Mr Naidu added, “Nobody can stop an idea whose time has come and this applies to the Smart City (initiative as well). The contest was as rigorous and demanding as the Civil Services competition.”
Congratulating all the winners of this competition, Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, said, “I wish all the cities the very best as they move forward with implementation and transform into an urban India.”
