The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India in
coordination with Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) is organizing a two-day “Smart Cities CEOs Conference on Data and Technology” in Panaji. The conference
which includes CEOs/Municipal Commissioners of 100 Smart Cities along with officials from
the Central, State government, Industry and knowledge partners is being hosted by Imagine
Panaji Smart City Development Ltd is scheduled for 23-24 January 2023. During the
conference, more than 200 delegates will deliberate on the creation of operating procedures and
business plans to ensure the sustainability of their Integrated Command and Control Centres
(ICCCs). Further, the delegates will also be taken through a session on undertaking ‘Change
Management particularly in the context of challenges being faced by officials in addressing urban issues.
The first day of the conference saw the inauguration by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa,
Dr Pramod Sawant in the presence of Shri Rohit Monserrate, Mayor, Corporation of City of
Panaji, Shri Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director and senior officers of the
Centre and State Government. Smart City CEOs/officials presented the Business Plans and
the Standard Operation Procedures of their ICCCs. The objective of the conference is to
enable peer learning and the exchange of ideas, which leads to the development of these best practices across all Smart Cities.
The conference also saw discussions on the ‘SmartProcure’ guidelines for procurement
of innovation, wherein officials from the Smart Cities of Shimla, Bhopal and Ahmedabad shared
their success stories. Further, at this crucial turn into the eighth year of the Mission, the topic
of Sustenance of Smart City SPVs beyond the Mission period is also being discussed with the
CEOs to help them plan the future of their organizations.
In closing, MoHUA will announce the ICCC Awards to reward the most innovative
and outstanding efforts of cities in creating maximum impact through their ICCCs.
“There is a need for all cities to identify long-term revenue models based on the infrastructure that is being
created under the Smart Cities Mission. This will ensure the self-sustainability of all Smart Cities once the Mission
has concluded and help fund future endeavours of the SPVs.”
— Dr Pramod Sawant, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa
“It’s time to start thinking out of the box, be innovative and entrepreneurial. It’s time to drive this fancy car
on your own and decide its destination, instead of being driven. The same goes for the future of SPVs. As
SPVs, you are the most professionalized arms of municipal corporations.”
— Shri Kunal Kumar, Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission
“The various projects– ICCC, Electric Buses, Mandovi Promenade, Campal Ground, Water Supply &
Electricity works with SCADA component– taken up under the Mission have great scope for revenue
generation. These can be monetised as additional revenue sources for the City.”
— Smt Mamu Hage, CEO, IPSCDL.
***
Annexure- I
Smart Cities Mission was launched by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India on
25th June 2015. It has been a part of a visionary agenda for urban rejuvenation and has been
designed as part of a multi-layer strategy to meet the aspirations of 40% of India’s population
living in cities.
100 Smart cities have been selected through 4 rounds of competition from January
2016 to June 2018. The focus of the Mission is on sustainable and inclusive development and
the idea is to look at compact areas and create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities. As part of Smart City Plans, 100 Smart cities have proposed to execute
a total of 5,151 projects worth ₹ 2,05,018 crores in 5 years from their respective dates of
selection. Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) were established in 100 Smart Cities for the implementation
of Smart City Projects.
SCM is a transformational Mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice
of urban development in the country. As on 19 January 2023, work orders were issued in
7,799 projects worth around ₹ 181,268 crore, of which 5,229 projects worth ₹ 98,291 crore
have been completed. Some key projects that are being developed across Smart Cities that
impact the lives of the middle class include the following:
Beach Head Completed Projects
(no.) Ongoing projects (no.)
ICCC 100 –
Smart Mobility 999 596
Smart Energy 541 158
WASH 927 414
PPP 170 70
Vibrant Public Spaces 933 398
Economic
Infrastructure 510 354
Social Infrastructure 439 195
Smart Governance 386 172
Projects developed under the Smart Cities Mission are multi-sectoral and mirror the
aspirations of the local population. As of date, 100 Smart cities have developed and
operationalised their Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCCs) in the country. These
operational ICCCs functioned as war rooms for COVID management, along with other
smart infrastructure developed under the mission, helped cities in fighting the pandemic
through information dissemination, improving communication, predictive analysis and
supporting effective management.
India’s Smart Cities have been at the forefront of leveraging technology to manage
COVID crisis.
● Model COVID War room developed in Bengaluru Smart City in 24 hours. Integrated
dashboards developed in the cities of Pune, Agra, Varanasi, Surat, and Bengaluru for effective
decision-making, monitoring COVID hotspots, and medical infrastructure, tracking movement of
goods and services and managing lockdown.
● Smart Cities like Surat, Pune, Nagpur, Agra, and Chennai leveraged web-based/mobile
applications for contact tracing, tracking and monitoring virus-infected persons.
● Smart Cities like Kanpur, Gwalior, Indore and Agra leveraged their ICCCs for two-
way communication with dedicated lines for telemedicine and counselling of infected patients.
● Smart Cities leveraged smart communication infrastructure vis. PA systems, Variable
Message Displays, and Drones to manage lockdowns and monitor social distancing in public
spaces more effectively.
Other transformative projects under Smart Cities Mission:
● Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index to measure the quality of life
and city performance rolled out in 114 Cities. Over 31 lakh citizens engaged as part of
Citizen Perception Survey. The Ease of Living indicators are strongly linked to Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and this exercise will help our Country to track and achieve
SDGs. Two iterations of EOL have been carried out in 2019 and 2020. The third iteration of
the assessment is being carried out as part of the Urban Outcomes Framework 2022.
● The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP) launched in June 2020 to
match opportunities in ULBs/smart cities with the learning needs of fresh graduates. Over 400
Smart Cities/ ULBs have posted 26,827 internships.
● DataSmart Cities rolled out in 100 Smart Cities to help cities create a data ecosystem
for data-driven governance. Data Maturity Assessment Framework (DMAF) rolled out to
help cities undergo a process of self-evaluation and embrace a data-culture Center for Digital
Governance (CDG) has been established in NIUA.
● India Urban Data eXchange (IUDX) launched in 2020-21 to facilitate the secure and
authenticated exchange of data amongst various data platforms, 3rd party applications, data
producers and consumers.
● ClimateSmart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) rolled out in 100 Smart
Cities, all Capital cities and all cities above 500,000 in population help cities look at urban
planning and governance from a climate change lens. An annual assessment of cities on
Climate-related parameters are an important sub-component of the Framework. Climate Centre
for Cities (C3) has been established in NIUA.
● The Mission is implementing National challenges like India Cycles4Change
Challenge, Streets4People Challenge, Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge,
EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport4All Challenge to scale up transformative
projects benefitting citizens and contributing to enhanced quality of life.
● National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) has been launched to institutionalize
a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery
across all cities and towns by 2024.
● City Innovation eXchange (CiX) and SmartProcure guidelines have been
launched to foster innovative practices in cities. CiX through an ‘open innovation’ process,
engages with innovators to design-test-deliver on solutions to pressing urban challenges.
Annexure-II
Brief on Panaji Smart City projects
Since its inception, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) under the
Smart Cities Mission has taken up 47 projects in Panaji city worth Rs.950.34 Crore, out of
which 15 projects worth Rs.58.15 Crore have been completed. Currently, 32 projects worth
Rs.892.19 Crore are ongoing, out of which 7 projects worth Rs.303.42 Crore have achieved
90% progress and additional 12 projects worth Rs.131.56 Crore have crossed 50% progress.
A number of state parastatal agencies such as GSIDC, GSUDA, PWD, and WRD, including
IPSCDL are the executing agency for specialised projects under the Smart Cities Mission.
IPSCDL is the nodal agency under which all these projects are being monitored and funded.
A total of Rs.245.00 Crore have been released by the Government of India towards project funds
of which Rs.236.00 Crore has been utilised. Further, Rs.239.80 Crore have been released by
Government of Goa towards project funds of which Rs.181.56 Crore has been utilised.
To state a few important projects, Panaji Smart City had undertaken the preparation of
a Flood mitigation plan for the critical areas in the City. And the same has translated on the ground
into two projects, i.e. ‘Flood pumping scheme at Mala, Panaji’ and ‘Rejuvenation of St. Inez
Creek’. Both projects have achieved 60% physical progress. Panaji Smart City has taken up
holistic Area Based Development of the Patto-Mala Area. Under this initiative, 5 projects have
been taken up namely, Pedestrian Bridge Behind Central Library (Gyan Setu), Pedestrian Spine
from Central Library to Santa Monica Jetty, Additional Mangrove Boardwalk behind GTDC
Convention Centre, Rua de Ourem as Smart Road, Flood Mitigation measures and Pumping
Station at Mala. Now, the first part of this engineering puzzle, i.e. Gyan Setu is completed and
similarly, rest 4 projects are scheduled to be completed subsequently under the Mission.
At the heart of all the smart elements being implemented in Panaji, is the Integrated
Command and Control Centre (ICCC) with robust IoT Platform leveraging on the
information provided by different devices/sensors & various departments and providing a
comprehensive response mechanism for the day-to-day challenges (i.e. traffic, SWM,
environmental, security, CCTVs etc.) across the city.
The various projects taken up under the Mission are of immense importance to the
City, especially with regards to stormwater drainage, road infrastructure, new sewerage lines,
new smart poles, 24×7 water supply with SCADA, etc. and include provision for operation &
maintenance for a period of 5 years.
