`9,940 CR RELEASED FOR SMART CITIES

New Delhi, Feb. 11: The Centre has released nearly `9,940 crore to the states so far for the Smart Cities Mission, with Maharashtra accounting for the highest amount of `1,378 crore, followed by Madhya Pradesh getting `984 crore, according to government data.

The housing and urban affairs ministry has announced 99 cities for central assistance under the BJP government’s flagship programme.

The total proposed investment in these cities was `2.03 lakh crore.

Maharashtra with eight cities, including Pune and Nashik has received central grant of `1,378 crore so far, followed by Madhya Pradesh, with seven cities getting central grant of `984 crore, the ministry data shows.

Tamil Nadu, with the highest of 11 cities selected for the mission, has received `848 crore. Karnataka with seven cities got `836 crore.

Andhra Pradesh, whose four cities were selected, received a central assistance of `588 crore, Uttar Pradesh with 10 cities received `547 crore and Gujarat, whose six cities were chosen, got `509 crore.