Belagavi, Davangere begin smart cities process

Belagavi and Davangere, the two border cities in central Karnataka, which have been included in the first list of 20 announced smart cities, have begun the process of creating separate companies under the Smart Cities Mission.

The Karnataka Government has begun the process of creating separate companies to develop Belagavi and Davangere under the Smart Cities Mission.

“There are different models to implement the Smart City project and special purpose vehicle (SPV), they might opt for. We are still discussing on it,” a senior official said.

The Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), in its guidelines on SPV, pointed out that the primary reason for creating an SPV is to ensure operational independence and autonomy in decision-making and mission implementation of smart cities.

The SPV will be a company with a board of directors from the State Government, MoUD and independent directors.

The State Chief Secretary is likely to be the Chairman with Principal Secretary (UDD) as its member Secretary.

The Managing Director or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will manage day-to-day affairs of implementing and monitoring smart city projects.

“The name of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer has to be cleared by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and he/she will work independently and have a three-year tenure,” the guidelines said.

Under the five-year project (2015-2019), each smart city will be given a Rs. 500-crore grant from the Centre, besides an additional Rs. 500 crore from the State Government.The Centre is likely to release the first round of funds by March-end. Once the State releases the matching grant, works will begin.