Basic urban infra investment plans for 102 cities approved under AMRUT

EMN
Dimapur, November 26

Seeking to improve basic infrastructure in urban areas, the Ministry of Urban Development today approved an investment of Rs.3,120 crore for enhancing water supply, sewerage network services, storm water drains, non-motorized transport and availability of public spaces in 102 cities, under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
An inter-ministerial Apex Committee chaired by Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary for Urban Development, approved State level Annual Action Plans for 2015-16 with an investment of Rs.438 crore for Haryana which has 18 Amrut cities, Rs.573 crore for Chattisgarh (9 cities), Rs.416 crore for Telangana (12 cities), Rs.588 crore for Kerala (9 cities) and Rs.1,105 crore for West Bengal which has 54 Atal Mission cities.
Total investment in water supply projects in 58 mission states will be Rs.2,386 crore, sewerage projects-Rs. 495 crore in 17 cities, Storm water drains- Rs.106 crore in 9 cities, Urban transport-Rs.61 crore in 9 cities and Rs.72 crore for development of parks and green spaces in all the 102 cities
The Apex Committee approved investments in different basic urban infrastructure areas as proposed by respective state governments. Ministry of Urban Development will provide an assistance of Rs.1,540 crore which is about 50% of total project expenditure approved today.
With today’s approvals, the Ministry has so far cleared a total investment of Rs.11,654 crore in 272 Atal Mission cities for improving infrastructure for ensuring water and sewerage connections to all households in Atal Mission cities besides enabling water supply as per the norm of 135 liters per capita per day for urban areas etc.
At present only about 50% of urban households are provided with water connections and water supply is about 75 liter per capita per day. Availability of sewerage connections is very low. Atal Mission seeks to bridge this deficit.
Recently the Union Urban Development Minister Vankaiah Naydu had announced a list of 98 smart cities including 24 state capital cities of the country.
The ambitious mission “Smart Cities Mission” and “500 AMRUT Cities Mission” was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s NDA government, on June 21, 2015.
The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) project was launched along with smart city project. For AMRUT, states have been asked to recommend cities which can be included under this scheme.