Prime Minister to address municipal heads

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address elected heads of 500 civic bodies from across the country here on June 25, when he will launch the three flagship schemes for urban revamp, including smart cities and housing for all.

The three big ticket projects - Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Housing for All, now named as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), are worth Rs four lakh crore.

The event will see Modi addressing Mayors and Chairpersons of selected 500 corporations and 

municipalities to outline his vision for emerging urban India, including challenges to be overcome, and a two-day brainstorming session involving the stakeholders and experts.

"It marks a red-letter day in the history of urban development in the country with the simultaneous launch of AMRUT, PMAY and Smart Cities Mission," Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told a news agency.

This reflects the integrated and convergence based approach of the government towards inclusive urban development. While AMRUT seeks to ensure basic infrastructure, PMAY enables the urban poor to own decent and affordable houses, he said. The Prime Minister will also release operational guidelines for the three urban missions besides unveiling logos and tag lines, according to a senior Urban Development Ministry official. "The two components - AMRUT and PMAY - enable the present cities emerge as smart cities in due course," Naidu said.