LUCKNOW: The Ayodhya smart city project will hold centrestage at the three-day ‘New Urban India’ event scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The development model will be placed at the centre of the UP pavilion which carries the theme — Naye Bharat Ka Naya Uttar Pradesh Badla Nagriya Parivesh. Governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath will also be present.
Urban development minister Ashutosh Tandon said, the Ayodhya smart city model will be encircled by symbols of flagship development programmes initiated by the Centre, including PM Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, AMRUT Mission, Smart City project, Urban Transport, National Livelihood Mission and Metro rail project. Thirty states will participate in the event, which will witness unveiling of 100 technologies.
This follows PM Narendra Modi’s missive to the state government to seek feedback on rolling out a detailed blueprint of Ayodhya as a key religious tourism centre in the country. Projects at the temple town are being fast-tracked as UP heads towards the high-stakes polls early next year.
The three-day event is being organised jointly by the Union housing and urban development ministry and department of urban development, UP government as part of Centre’s initiative to commemorate 75th year of independence. PM Modi is scheduled to hand over keys of houses constructed under PMAY (urban) to 75,000 beneficiaries across 75 districts and will also interact with them.
A coffee table book on 75 success stories in 10 smart cities will also be inaugurated by Modi. The PM will also dedicate 75 projects under Smart Cities and AMRUT scheme. Under the smart city project, 15 projects of Rs 1,537 crore will be dedicated and foundation of 30 projects of Rs 1,256 crore will be done.
After the event’s inauguration, a host of seminars and webinars will be organised by the government. The programme is scheduled to be attended by a host of Union ministers, including defence minister Rajnath Singh, housing and urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri, his deputy Kaushal Kishore, minister of state for heavy industries Mahendra Nath Pandey.
