Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha on Friday interacted with municipal commissioners of 97 cities included in the Smart Cities Mission and chief secretaries of all the states and union territories on the implementation of the ambitious programme.
He also complimented the 20 winners for coming top in the first round of smart city challenge competition which, he said, was fiercely contested based on comprehensive evaluation criteria.
"Those who could not make to the first list need not be disappointed as they get two more opportunities to compete in the next few months," he said, according to an official statement.
He also said that those who were not represented in the first list they could participate in fast track competition by submitting upgraded smart city proposals of one top ranked city in each state and UT by April 15.
"The remaining 54 cities get to participate in round two of smart city challenge competition, which is to begin on April 1, 2016. Sinha said that in effect two more opportunities will be available in the next few months for more cities to be selected from other states and UTs," the statement added.
