Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday urged Union Housing and Development Minister Hardeep Puri to include SAS Nagar, popularly known as Mohali, in the Smart City project for its inclusive development.
The CM, who called on Hardeep Singh Puri at his office in New Delhi today, underscored the need to develop Mohali as a Smart City. He said Mohali is a part of tri city comprising Chandigarh and Panchkula due to which this city holds immense significance.
Mann also said that most of the departments of the state government have their head offices in this city due to which it is imperative to give further fillip to its growth.
He said it is the need of hour to include this city in the Smart City Project for further holistic and planned growth. He said Mohali and its adjoining municipal committees like Zirakpur, Kharar, Derabassi and Kurali have witnessed immense growth with the international airport, presence of educational institutes, townships and industries. Mann said the area needs special funding to support planned growth and infrastructure development.
Flagging another issue, the Chief Minister requested the restoration of the same ratio of funds under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 Scheme as was earlier in AMRUT 1.
He said that under AMRUT 1, Centre and State share was 50:50 for towns in one lakh to 10 lakh population category whereas under AMRUT 2.0, the Centre and state share has been revised to 33:67 for the towns under the same population category adding that for million-plus cities like Ludhiana and Amritsar, the ratio was 33:67(Centre and State share) and under AMRUT 2.0, it is 75:25.
Mann said as these towns are rapidly expanding so they need continuous infrastructure development for which the old share ratio must be restored.