Gandhi had yesterday accused the BJP of making "empty promises", latching on to media reports that out of the total Rs 9,860 crore released to 60 cities under the Smart City Mission by the Centre, only seven per cent, or about Rs 645 crore, has been utilised so far.
Puri, the Minister of State (independent charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, took to Twitter to advise the Opposition leader against selectively choosing information, saying 7 per cent was the amount of payments that have been made, while the actual payments due were 31 per cent.
"#SmartCities require establishment of SPVs; designing & planning of projects. In 10 yrs of UPA just 68% of 46K Cr spent on Jnnurm. Cities in @INCIndia ruled states languish at bottom in #SmartCities ranking. Would encourage @OfficeOfRG to have better informed #dyNastyBhakts," he tweeted.
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a city-modernisation scheme launched by the Congress-led UPA government in 2005. However, it was replaced by the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) after the NDA government came to power in 2014.
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According to an official Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry statement today, Puri had informed a Parliamentary consultative committee meeting recently that a total investment of around Rs 1,91,155 crore has been proposed by the 90 cities under their smart city plans.
He said projects focusing on revamping 'an identified area (Area Based Projects)' are estimated to cost Rs 1,52,500 crore.
Projects worth Rs 1,35,459 crore are in various stages of implementation, while 147 projects worth Rs 1,872 crore have been completed, it added.
Puri said the implementation of the mission is done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to be set up at city-level in the form of a limited company and are promoted by the State/UT and the Urban Local Body (ULB) jointly both having 50:50 equity shareholding.
So far 77 'smart cities' have established their SPVs, he informed.
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