- Why in news
- On 3 August 2026, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs told the Rajya Sabha that 97% of Smart Cities Mission projects were complete as of 31 March 2026, citing a NITI Aayog evaluation.
- What it is
- The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was launched in June 2015 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. It aimed to build 100 cities with core infrastructure, a clean environment and smart solutions. Each city set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to plan and run its projects.
- Projects taken up
- As of 31.03.2026, 8,064 projects worth ₹1,64,811 crore were taken up, and 7,790 (97%) were completed.
- ICCCs
- 100 Integrated Command and Control Centres were set up, covering crime monitoring, safety, transport, waste, water and disaster management.
- NITI Aayog evaluation
- NITI Aayog's September 2025 evaluation under Package 4 found strong alignment with urban priorities and links to several SDGs.
- Launch and nodal ministry
- SCM was launched in June 2015 and run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Don’t confuse with Smart Cities Mission vs AMRUT: SCM covered 100 selected cities with area-based and pan-city smart solutions. AMRUT focuses on basic services such as water supply and sewerage in many more cities.
Schemes: 52 Prelims questions since 2013, 10 in Prelims 2026 alone. They test features, the period and who funds it. In Mains, 33 news-triggered questions, mostly GS3.
Why it matters
- Built command-centre based urban management in all 100 cities, improving safety, traffic and service delivery.
- Created assets in mobility, water, public spaces and heritage conservation.
Problems
- Operation and maintenance of assets after the Mission's closure needs funding and capacity in urban local bodies.
- SPVs sit outside elected municipal bodies, which raises accountability questions.
Way forward
- Prepare O&M plans and repurpose SPVs, as the advisory directs, with links to urban local bodies.
- Use ICCCs as integrated city platforms for services and disaster management.
Put in your answer
SCM completion data: By 31.03.2026, 7,790 of 8,064 projects (97%) worth ₹1,56,257 crore were completed.
NITI Aayog evaluation: NITI Aayog found strong alignment with urban priorities and links to SDGs.
- 2016Mains GS3 · Q4Define smart cities, assess urban relevance, rural-urban differences, smart villages.
- 2016Mains GS1 · Q11Introduce objectives and strategy of Smart City Programme with background.
- 2025Mains GS1 · Q8How smart cities address urban poverty and distributive justice.
- 2014Prelims Q57Which bodies are associated with planning in India?
- 2017Prelims Q41Asks about APMCHUD's first meeting and India's hosting role.
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
Prelims practice · Statements
Ours, not from a UPSC paper
Consider the following statements:
- 1.The Smart Cities Mission was formally closed on 31 March 2025.
- 2.Under the Mission, each smart city has 100 Integrated Command and Control Centres.
- 3.Each smart city implements the Mission through a Special Purpose Vehicle.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
True or false?
1 of 5
Statements the way Prelims prints them. Say first, then see the fact.
1.Under the Mission, each smart city has 100 Integrated Command and Control Centres.
False. In all, 100 ICCCs were set up, one for each of the 100 cities, not 100 per city.
2.The Smart Cities Mission was launched in 2015 and is administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
True. Launched June 2015; nodal ministry is MoHUA.
3.Each smart city implements the Mission through a Special Purpose Vehicle.
True. SPVs plan, appraise, fund and run projects in each city; the advisory seeks their repurposing.
4.Water supply networks under the Mission are monitored through RFID, while waste-collection vehicles are monitored through SCADA.
False. SCADA monitors water supply networks; RFID is used on waste-collection vehicles.
5.Public Private Partnership projects formed the majority of the projects completed under the Mission.
False. Only 194 PPP projects worth ₹9,190 crore were completed, a small share of about 7,790 completed projects.
Written by us from the release, not by UPSC; checked by a second model.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.