Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday declared that Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from Odisha would be included in the list of 100 smart cities to be developed across the country. Besides the two cities, the Odisha government had proposed three other cities Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur to get smart city tag. However, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela were the front runners among the five cities.
Rs.50,000 crore have been earmarked by the central government to develop 100 smart cities in the country. Each selected city would get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years.