SPV on anvil for Smarty City Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: A special purpose vehicle will be formed to implement the Smart City scheme in the capital city of Odisha, informed Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Krishan Kumar.

“An SPV will be formed for implementation of projects under the Smart City scheme. Guidelines prepared by the Centre in this regard will be provided to the state government,” said Kumar.

He informed this after attending a video conference at the Secretariat convened by Union cabinet secretary BK Sinha in New Delhi with chief secretaries of the states and commissioners of the municipal corporations of the selected Smart Cities.

“We were asked to deal with implementation challenges such as interdepartmental coordination and citizen participation. We were asked to ensure these things. The meeting also discussed technical competence, model concession agreements and appointment of consultancies, among others,” he added.

The municipal commissioner said the state government has a 10-year vision and a five-year action plan for the Smart City project, and that work will start on the action plan after final approval from the Centre. “We hope preliminary work as per the action plan will commence by February-March,” said Kumar.

Bhubaneswar topped the list of 20 cities announced by the Centre for its ‘Smart Cities Mission’ Project Thursday. Under the mission, innovative projects such as installation of modern traffic control system, modern bus service facility, park management, bicycle tracks, e-rickshaws, urban history museum and rooftop solar projects will be taken up. Ensuring basic amenities such as 24X7 electricity supply, drinking water facility, proper drainage and sewerage system, sanitation and slum rehabilitation will remain the basic focus areas.

The state government has sanctioned a proposal worth Rs 4,537 crore for Bhubaneswar under the Smart City mission, of which Rs4,095 crore will be spent for the development of Bhubaneswar Town City district (BTCD) and Rs442 crore will be spent under the Pan City scheme. Of the total amount, Rs 500 crore will come from the Centre while the rest will be funded by the state government and private stakeholders through the PPP mode, said Kumar.