India Smart Cities Competition 2020 results released, Surat and Indore bag best Smart City award

On the sixth anniversary of the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), AMRUT, and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs revealed the results of the India Smart Cities Competition (ISAC) 2020 in an online event on Friday. In the urban category, Indore and Surat shared the first place, while Uttar Pradesh received the state award.

The prizes were given out drawing on social elements, governance, culture, urban environment, sanitation, economy, built environment, water, and urban mobility, among other things. This is the first time that states have been recognised for their overall smart city performance.

The Union Territory category winner went to Chandigarh, whereas the "Innovative Idea Award" went to Indore.

Kalyan-Dombivali and Varanasi were named joint winners in the Covid innovation category by the government.

Ahmedabad won the "Smart Cities Leadership Award", with Varanasi and Ranchi coming in second and third, respectively.

In September 2020, the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0 was established with the goal of providing an overall framework for formulating, implementing, and monitoring urban climate initiatives in India.

The framework, which contains 28 different indicators spanning 96 data points over five thematic areas, is designed to help cities assess and improve their present performance.

Surat, Indore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Vijayawada, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Pimpri-Chinchwad, and Vadodara are the top nine performing cities, each receiving a 4-star rating.

Out of the total number of projects planned, so far 5,924 projects costing Rs 1,78,500 crore have been tendered under the Smart Cities Mission, and work orders for 5,236 projects for 1,46,125 crore have been issued, according to the ministry.

It further stated that 2,665 projects with a total value of Rs 45,080 crore have been completed and are functioning.