15 PSUs to convert 27 townships into Mini Smart Cities by August 15, 2023

• NTPC Limited, BEL, BHEL, SJVN Limited, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) are some of the PSUs which are converting their townships into smart cities
• NTPC will inaugurate its Solapur township mini smart city in Maharashtra and BEL will inaugurate its mini smart city in Bengaluru, Karnataka tomorrow

Gandhinagar: A total of 15 PSUs will convert 27 townships into Mini Smart Cities by August 15, 2023, said the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Joint Secretary Sanjay Kumar Jain on Wednesday. Speaking at the curtain raiser event for DPE's #AKAM (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) Mega Show, Jain said that Smart Cities Mission is an important part of the government's plan for India at 100 and PSUs are contributing towards that goal by converting 27 of their townships to Mini Smart Cities.

"Smart Cities is one of the most important initiatives taken by the Government of India. Some of the CPSEs are developing one-two of their townships as Mini Smart Cities on the lines of parameters identified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs," said Jain. The list of these 15 PSUs includes the likes of NTPC Limited, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), SJVN Limited, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) among others.

2 PSUs to inaugurate 2 smart cities tomorrow

The DPE Joint Secretary said that on June 9, the first day of the #AKAM mega show event in Gandhinagar in which 75 PSUs are taking part, two PSUs will inaugurate two township projects where the conversion into smart cities has been completed — NTPC will inaugurate its Solapur township mini smart city in Maharashtra and BEL will inaugurate its mini smart city in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

PSU townships must meet a certain number of criteria for being named a smart city. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, 80 percent of the buildings must be energy-efficient and green buildings, assured electricity supply with at least 10 percent of the power supply being met through renewable energy source, rain water harvesting mechanism, solid waste management, smart parking facility, smart metering, etc are some of the criteria that PSU townships must meet to be called a smart city.

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