The central government's Smart Cities Mission is an
ambitious project, which envisages various city-level projects, in
areas such as low-cost housing, renewable energy and public
transit. The sheer magnitude and size of the project brings to mind
implementation and finance.
The first phase of the mission has been rolled out, with the
central government disbursing the first tranche of `1.94 billion
(US$29 million) to many selected cities. However, the present
financial assistance from the central government, state governments
and urban local bodies (ULBs) will aggregate to only a fraction of
the total estimated cost.
To bridge this gap, the mission contemplates financing through
various sources, including multilateral agencies. Such financing
may be easier and cheaper than other funding options. The fact that
it works for long-term infrastructure projects is well demonstrated
by Delhi Metro, which successfully raised a major portion of its
funding through the Japan
