Those cities that failed to make the cut in the selection of the first 20 Smart Cities should take a look at the way the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) presented their proposal that placed it on the top of the selected cities.

One of the winning points of BMC was its plan to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of the Smart City project.

It has clearly announced that the preliminary work will begin from February, and implementation of different projects will be taken up after six months.

In his talks with Orissa Chief Secretary AP Padhi, Union Cabinet Secretary Pradip Kumar Sinha pointed out challenges to be faced during the next five to 10 months.

Padhi said the Government has put enabling legal and reform measures for making Bhubaneswar a successful Smart City and achieving sustainable urbanisation in the State.

He also assured that the State Government will provide all assistance for the programmes and the projects will be implemented on mission mode, he said.

Sources told The Indian Express that the SPV will be given powers to implement the proposed development projects. It will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate Smart City development projects.

Each Smart City will have an SPV headed by a full time CEO and have nominees of Central and State governments, officials of the Urban Land Board on the professionally managed SPV board.

The SPV will be empowered to execute the Smart City projects in a timely and cost-effective manner while ensuring that the quality of outcome is benchmarked against global standards, an official said.