Over Rs 90 crore spent on smart cities in Karnataka

Karnataka minister for Urban Development and Housing U T Khader on Wednesday said Rs 91.34 crore has so far been spent on seven cities in the state that have been selected under the Smart City project. The central and the state governments have each earmarked Rs 886 crore for the project. Responding to a query from BJP MLA K S Eshwarappa during question hour, the Minister said new guidelines and rules have been framed under the project and creation of a special purpose vehicle for it have been the cause for the delay in its implementation in the seven cities - Belagavi, Davangere, Hubballi-Dharwad, Shivamogga, Mangaluru, Tumkur and Bengaluru. Noting that central government had launched the Smart City project in June 2015, Khader said this was different from other projects, as it required introduction of new rules which required more time. Also, cities were selected for the project in various rounds and consultants have been appointed in all the cities, he said. Further, detailed reports on the project were underway and work was on in all the cities, but in some of them, the project was at the nascent stage, the Minister said adding that special purpose vehicles have been set up in all the smart cities. To this, several BJP leaders including opposition leader B S Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and Eshwarappa stressed the need for a supervisory committee to oversee the implementation of the project.