Indore tops in Smart City contest, Madhya Pradesh wins best 'State Award'

Indore on Friday bagged the best "National Smart City Award", followed by Surat and Agra. The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry announced the India Smart Cities Awards for 2022 on Friday. The awards would be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony in Indore on September 27.

Among the 66 winners in different categories, Madhya Pradesh has won the best 'State Award' and Tamil Nadu bagged the second spot. Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were on the third spot jointly. Chandigarh has been ranked the number one in the Union territory category. It has also emerged a winner in the best governance category for its e-governance services, according to the ministry.

Among the 100 cities being developed under the Modi government's Smart Cities Mission, Indore bagged the top spot, Surat in Gujarat the second place and Agra the third spot. In October last year, Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for the sixth time in a row.

In the 'built environment' category, Coimbatore was ranked the best city for its model roads, and restoration and rejuvenation of lakes, followed by Indore while the third spot was shared by New Town Kolkata and Kanpur. Jabalpur has emerged as the winner in the 'Economy' category with an incubation centre while Indore and Lucknow followed it on the next two spots.

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According to the ministry, Chandigarh has been adjudged the best city in the mobility category for "Public Bike Sharing (PPP) along with cycle tracks", followed by New Town Kolkata and Sagar. Indore has also won the best city award in the 'urban environment' category for "air quality improvement and Ahilya Van along with vertical gardens".

Shivamogga and Jammu, in the same category, were awarded for their initiatives in "development of conservancies" and e-auto for the old city respectively. The ministry said that the 'Smart Cities Mission' (SCM) launched on June 25, 2015, is aimed at providing core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to citizens through the application of "smart solutions".

This is a transformational mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban development in the country, it added. Of the total proposed projects under SCM, 6,041(76 per cent) projects worth Rs 1,10,635 crore have been completed and the remaining 1,894 projects worth Rs 60,095 crore will be finished by June 30, 2024.