Vizag, Kakinada to Get Rs. 2,000 Crore to Become Smart Cities.

Two cities from Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam and Kakinada - have made to the list of 20 Smart Cities issued by the Central Government.

Disclosing this to mediapersons here on Thursday, Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana expressed happiness at the inclusion of the two cities in the first list of 20 smart cities in the country.

Though three cities, including Tirupati, were proposed, the Centre has selected the two cities. Only some parts of the two cities would be developed under Smart Cities scheme. He said in addition to the developmental programmes funded by both the State and the Central governments, works would also be taken up in Public Private Partnership mode.

The minister said that proposals worth Rs. 1,602 crore for Vizag and Rs. 1,993 crore worth proposals for Kakinada were submitted under Smart Cities. Each of the cities will receive Rs. 500 crore from the Central Government and a matching grant from the State Government. Thus, the two cities would get Rs. 2,000 , he said.

In addition, plans worth Rs. 602 crore for Visakhapatnam and Rs. 993 crore for Kakinada were prepared under PPP mode. Under the smart cities programme, works pertaining to lighting, drinking water and transport would be prioritised.

Speaking on the occasion, agriculture minister P Pulla Rao said link roads would be built at a cost of Rs. 200 crore provided by the marketing department and the MGNREGS to help better market linkage to farm produce. Proposals for setting up coconut parks would soon be unveiled by the chief minister, he said.

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS