Urban Administration and Development Minister  Amar Agrawal on Thursday said that though the Central Government would allocate two 'Smart Cities' to Chhattisgarh, the State Government has decided to develop all the other 11 municipal Corporations-run cities on the pattern of 'Smart Cities'.

The infrastructure will be upgraded, convenient transport will be provided, people's participation, good governance, health and education, e-Governance, healthy environment, adequate drinking water facilities, waste disposal management and sanitation and low-cost housing for poor are some of the proposals to develop the other 'Smart Cities', he said.

The Centre had launched 'Amrut Mission' in 500 towns whose population is above one lakh. The Mission will benefit Chhattisgarh also, Agrawal said.

He said that a proposal to develop two cities -Raipur and Bilaspur-as 'Smart Cities' had been dispatched to the Central Government.

If the Central Government selects these two municipal corporation-run cities ( Raipur & Bilaspur) ample financial assistance will flow into them, he said.

The State Government had selected two cities-Raipur and Bilaspur, after a lot of debate and competition, Agrawal said.

There are 13 parameters on the basis of which 'Smart Cities' are selected. A total of eleven municipal corporations had sent their proposals. The concerned authorities after taking into consideration various issues,  it was decided to send the names of two cities to the Centre, he said.

It may be recalled that the Chhattisgarh government has approved the proposals for Raipur and Bilaspur cities sent by the respective municipal corporations to be sent to the Centre for inclusion in the 'Smart City' project development list.

The proposals were approved in a high-level Governing Committee headed by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand under the Smart City Mission based on the available public amenities and parameters set by the Centre claimed in the proposals for the twocities to be included in the 'Smart City' development list.

It may be recalled that except Chirmiri, all the 12 municipal corporations in Chhattisgarh had presented their claims for inclusion in the Centre's 'Smart City' project list, officials stated.

The State government thereafter selected Raipur and Bilaspur to develop as 'SmartCities' under the Centre's 'Mission Smart City' during the next four years.

The State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) would be the Nodal Agency for the 'Smart City' project.

 Smart City Mission Director and SUDA CEO Dr Rohit Yadav stated that under the Mission Smart City guidelines, two Smart Cities are to be developed in Chhattisgarh based on the urban population.

After the examination of the proposals by experts on urban development, the cities of Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg and Bhilai were jointly given the first preference, Birgaon was given second preference, Korba third and Dhamtari was given fourth preference.

After finding equal weightage for the first four cities, the facilities provided by municipal corporations of  Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg and Bhilai were evaluated in a scientific manner in which approval was granted to send names of Raipur and Bilaspur to the Centre as proposals to be developed as 'Smart Cities',he said.