Bhubaneswar leads Smart City race; Pune, Jabalpur, Bhopal among first 20

The Union government on Thursday unveiled the first batch of 20 cities for the ambitious Smat City mission. The 20 cities, declared by the government, included just one city with a population of over 50 lakh.

The first city declared by Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu was Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

Here's the full list of the first 20 smart cities:

1. Bhubaneswar, Odisha

2. Pune, Maharashtra

3. Jaipur, Rajasthan

4. Surat, Gujarat

5. Kochi, Kerala

6. Ahmedabad, Gujarat

7. Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

8. Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

9. Solapur, Maharashtra

10. Davangere, Karnataka

11. Indore, Madhya Pradesh

12. NDMC, Delhi

13. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

14. Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

15. Belgaum, Karnataka

16. Udaipur, Rajasthan

17. Guwahati, Assam

18. Chennai, Tamil Nadu

19. Ludhiana, Punjab

20. Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

According to Naidu, the government has set aside Rs 48,000 crore for the project, and that the cities were chosen through a fair competition.

The investment in each city will range from Rs 1049 crore to Rs 5099 crore.