Govt to launch City Livability Index on 23 June

New Delhi: To increase accountability in infrastructure development, the central government will launch a City Livability Index on 23 June, union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday.

The government will also announce the names of the next batch of cities which will be included in the smart cities mission. The announcements will be made at a national workshop on urban transformation scheduled to be held in the capital.

“There is a lot of transformation that is taking place. There is a need for behavioural participation… Our version of the City Livability Index will be launched on 23 June,” Naidu said.

Cities will be measured on various parameters including safety, social and physical infrastructure.

Naidu, who was addressing a press conference on the initiatives taken by the ministry in the last three years, said the government has approved a per capita investment of Rs15,475 under new urban missions in the last three years. He said a total investment of Rs4,13,475 crore has been approved for improving basic urban infrastructure in the country.

“322 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) and smart cities have acquired Credit Ratings of which 147 have got investment grade while 163 cities in 18 states and union territories have initiated measures for mobilizing resources through value capture financing tools,” Naidu said.

Under the Smart Cities Mission, the government has so far selected 60 cities through a competition. According to the guidelines of the mission, the government was to select 20 cities in the first phase and 40 in the next two years. 13 more cities were included in the first phase in May last year to expand the representation of states in the mission.

In June 2015, the National Democratic Alliance government launched three flagship schemes including Smart Cities mission, AMRUT and Housing for All mission.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.