Lucknow, Panaji among 13 winners of Smart City competition

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on 24 May announced the names of 13 cities which have been chosen to be developed as smart cities under the government's ambitious plan. These cities were picked through a fast-track competition.

Smart cities will be developed on the guidelines of urban India which includes quality infrastructure and will have pleasure of receiving uninterrupted power and water supplies along with internet connectivity, e-governance.

The cities on the shortlist are:

1. Lucknow (UP)
2. New Town in Kolkata (WB)
3. Bhagalpur (Bihar)
4. Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh)
5. Chandigarh (Punjab)
6. Faridabad (Haryana)
7. Raipur (Chhattisgarh)
8. Ranchi (Jharkhand)
9. Warangal (Telangana)
10. Agartala (Tripura)
11. Imphal (Manipur)
12. Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Island)
13. Panaji (Goa)

In January this year, the government had declared the names of 20 smart cities.

The NDA government was heavily criticised for the choice of cities and leaving out cities from state like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, states which are not governed by Bharatiya Janata Party.