SHILLONG: The new state government, which has inherited a huge financial burden, will follow in the footsteps of the previous regime and insist on equal division of fund for the Centre’s Smart City project.
Urban Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling said owing to lack of resources, the state government “will insist on the 50:50 funding pattern for the Smart City project even as the Centre has kept it at 90:10”.
“We will insist that the funding pattern should be 50:50 as the funding pattern of 90:10 will be a formidable task for the state as it lacks resources to fulfill the plan of Smart City,” Dohling told reporters.
He added, “We will inspect other states and if we see positive developments, we will attempt in the state while we also insist that the funding pattern should be 90:10.”
The Urban Affairs Minister said that some states in the country are making progress in the implementation of the Smart City project.
According to Dohling, brining in developmental projects in hilly areas was not easy as compared to plain areas, and said, “We expect to have a smart city and will make necessary assessments.”
Under the smart city mission, the Centre allocates Rs 500 crore to each of the cities for implementing projects proposed by it.
This amount is matched with a grant of the same amount by the respective state. As per the project, a minimum of Rs 1,500 crore is estimated to improve the sewerage system, drainage and waste management, among others.
As on January, 189 projects worth Rs 2,237 crore have been completed while another 2,948 projects worth Rs 1.38 lakh crore are in various stages of implementation.
