The Smart City project has seen a significant decline in both grants and spending in recent years, as per data presented by Byrathi Suresh in the Budget session of the Karnataka legislature.
Karnataka Minister for Urban Development and Town Planning Byrathi Suresh said Wednesday that out of the grant of Rs 6,854.50 crore allocated by the Central and state governments for the Smart Cities Mission, Rs 6,471.71 crore had been utilised, achieving financial progress of 95 per cent.
“Of the 665 projects initiated under the Smart City grant, 632 (95 per cent) have been completed, while the remaining 33 (5 per cent) are still in progress. In this context, the government remains committed to fully utilising the allocated funds and ensuring the successful implementation of the project,” he said during the ongoing Budget session of the legislature.
Smart Cities Mission, an initiative of the Central government, aims to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment through the application of ‘Smart’ solutions.
According to data presented by Suresh, under the Smart City project, the Centre has allocated grants worth Rs 3,391 crore to cities including Belagavi, Davangere, Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore, Shivamogga, Tumkur and Bengaluru. The Centre has provided Rs 490 crore each to Belagavi, Davangere, Hubli-Dharwad, Shivamogga and Tumkur. Meanwhile, Bengaluru and Mangalore have received grants worth Rs 488 crore and Rs 453 crore respectively.
The Smart City Project has witnessed a significant decline in both grants and spending since 2021-22. Data on the funds released by the Centre and the state government over the past decade (2015-2025) reveals a sharp contraction in allocations, particularly in the last two financial years. However, officials in the department attributed the decline to the completion of projects.
Between 2015 and 2021, the Smart City scheme saw steady financial support, with both the Centre and the state government contributing equally towards urban development. The financial year 2021-22 marked the highest allocation, with Rs 2,168.16 crore granted—Rs 865.16 crore from the Centre and Rs 1,303 crore from the Karnataka government. This peak, however, proved to be short-lived.
In the subsequent years, there was a drastic decline in funding. According to the data presented by the minister in 2022-23, grants plummeted to Rs 733.84 crore, with the Centre’s share dropping to Rs 604.84 crore and the state’s contribution falling sharply to just Rs 129 crore. This downward trend continued in 2023-24, with total grants further reduced to Rs 716 crore. The latest allocation for 2024-25 signals an almost complete withdrawal of funding, with both the Centre and the state contributing a meagre Rs 36.75 crore each.
The spending patterns closely mirror the declining grant allocations. In 2021-22, when funds were at their highest, total expenditure reached Rs 1,796.31 crore, the largest in the history of Karnataka’s Smart City programme. The following year, despite a decline in grants, spending remained high at Rs 1,529.26 crore, indicating that ongoing projects were being completed with previously allocated funds.
However, 2023-24 saw a dramatic reduction in spending, with only Rs 539.38 crore used for Smart City initiatives. According to the data, this figure dropped even further in 2024-25, where projected spending stands at just Rs 465.8 crore, a fraction of what was being spent in earlier years.
A breakdown of contributions from the Centre and the state government shows distinct patterns. Initially, between 2016 and 2018, both governments maintained nearly equal contributions. For instance, in 2016-17, the Centre allocated Rs 388 crore while the state government contributed Rs 400 crore. A similar balance was observed in the following year.
However, by 2019-20, a gap started to emerge. The Centre’s allocation stood at Rs 355 crore, while the state’s contribution dwindled to just Rs 37 crore. The largest discrepancy occurred in 2021-22, when the state contributed Rs 1,303 crore—significantly more than the Centre’s Rs 865.16 crore. After 2021, the state government’s contributions dropped significantly, to Rs 129 crore in 2022-23, Rs 197.50 crore in 2023-24, and an unprecedented low of Rs 36.75 crore in 2024-25. The Centre’s funding also declined but at a steadier pace.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sanath K Prasad
Quelle/Source: The Indian Express, 05.03.2025
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