A decade after the promise of smarter skylines, the blueprint is still a work in progress.
Progress on Paper, Deadlines Extended
Of the 100 cities selected under the Smart Cities Mission launched in 2016, only 31 have been officially converted into ‘smart’ cities, according to an RTI reply from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The five-year project, initially structured in four phases, has been extended three times — first to June 2023, then to June 30, 2024, and most recently to March 31, 2025.
Under the phased rollout, 20 cities were chosen in January 2016, followed by 40 between May and September 2016, 30 in June 2017, and the final 10 by January 2018.
The ministry stated that as of December 2025, 31 cities have been transformed at a cost of ₹59,385 crores over roughly 10 years. However, it clarified that the Mission was not intended to overhaul entire cities but to focus on area-based development — including redevelopment, green spaces and infrastructure upgrades — without demolishing existing structures. The model was designed to be replicable across urban India.
Of the remaining cities, 43 are nearing completion, while 26 will require additional time.
Spending, Projects and the Road Ahead
The RTI response revealed that 8,067 projects — 94% of the total — have been completed across the 100 cities at a cost of ₹1.64 lakh crore as of June 24, 2025.
The 31 declared smart cities include Indore (231 projects), Chandigarh (97), Salem (114), Tumakuru (217), Udaipur (143), Varanasi (117), Surat (87) and Bhopal (82), among others. Among these, the highest expenditure has been recorded in Indore (₹3,751 crore), Varanasi (₹3,342 crore), Tripura (₹2,833 crore), Surat (₹2,694 crore), Salem (₹1,861 crore) and Shivamogga (₹1,381 crore).
Meanwhile, cities such as Visakhapatnam, Guwahati, Panaji, Ahmedabad, Jammu and Bengaluru are close to completion. Others — including Port Blair, Kakinada, Tirupati and Srinagar — remain further behind.
Officials declined detailed comment, citing authorisation and scheduling constraints.
The data underscores steady project execution but also highlights the gap between ambitious timelines and on-ground transformation.
In the march toward smarter cities, progress has been built brick by brick — but the finish line keeps moving.
Summary
An RTI reply reveals that only 31 of 100 cities under the 2016 Smart Cities Mission have been declared ‘smart’, despite multiple deadline extensions to 2025. While 94% of projects are complete, 43 cities are nearing completion and 26 remain pending. The mission focuses on area-based development rather than full-city transformation.
