Status of Smart Cities in Bihar: No Project Completed in Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur

More than six years have passed since the Smart Cities Mission was launched on 25th June 2015. From Bihar, four cities – Patna, Bhagalpur, Biharsharif and Muzaffarpur – have been selected for the Smart Cities Mission project. Out of these four, in two cities – Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur – no smart cities related project have yet been completed. This shows the sorry state of progress on one of the most ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government.

As per the official figures, only 37 smart cities related projects worth Rs.1,204.96 crore have been completed so far in Bihar. In terms of the number of projects, Biharsharif, the headquarters of Nalanda district, tops the list with 25 completed projects. Only 12 projects have been completed in the state capital city Patna. Not a single project has been completed either in Muzaffarpur or Bhagalpur.

In terms of amount, Patna has completed projects worth Rs.680.97 crore, while Biharsharif has completed projects worth Rs.523.99 crore, Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 11th August 2021.

Ten project in Muzaffarpur are in the ‘work order stage’ while 13 are in the ‘tender stage’. Put together the value of these 23 projects is pegged at Rs.334.7 crore. Slow progress in projects in Muzaffarpur is reflected in the city ranking among the smart cities and other rankings as well as on the ground. 

Muzaffarpur ranks at the bottom in the Ease of Living Index 2020, a survey of cities across the country, conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Formed over 150 years ago in 1864, Muzaffarpur is one of the oldest municipalities in India. However, its performance is among the poorest.

Muzaffarpur ranks at the bottom in the Ease of Living Index 2020, a survey of cities across the country, conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Formed over 150 years ago in 1864, Muzaffarpur is one of the oldest municipalities in India. However, its performance is among the poorest. Even in the government reports Muzaffarpur is ranked among the most unliveable cities in the country. 

Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs releases ranking of smart cities based on their performance on several indicators. Muzaffarpur has consistently been at the bottom. As per the latest ranking Muzaffarpur is placed at the 99th spot, while Bhagalpur is placed at the 91st position. Biharsharif is placed at the 70th position, while Patna stood at the 61st position in 2020 survey. None of the four cities from Bihar that have been selected for the smart cities project, have showed satisfactory performance so far. None of the cities from Bihar figured on the list of Indian Smart Cities Award 2020 winners.

No Smart Cities related project has been completed in Bhagalpur as well. However, six projects are in the work order stage while four projects are in the tender stage. These 10 projects are estimated to cost Rs. 1,243.53 crore.

Overall, 118 smart cities related projects have either been completed or in the pipeline in Bihar with an estimated cost of Rs.4,859.75 crore, which is just around 2.6 per cent of Rs.1,80,873.09 crore.

Overall, 118 smart cities related projects have either been completed or in the pipeline in Bihar with an estimated cost of Rs.4,859.75 crore, which is just around 2.6 per cent of Rs.1,80,873.09 crore.

The highest amount of investments in smart cities related project in Bihar is for Patna. Twelve projects involving an investment of Rs.680.97 crore have been completed in Patna. Another 19 projects worth Rs.952.61 crore are in the work order stage while nine projects worth Rs. 321.52 crore are in the tender stage in Patna. Put together 40 smart cities related projects are in Patna that will require investment of Rs.1,955.1 crore. This is the highest investment among the four smart cities in Bihar. For Muzaffarpur, the investment in the pipeline is just Rs. 334.7 crore. This is less than one-fourth of Rs.1,326.42 crore worth of completed and proposed investments in Biharsharif smart city. Interestingly, Biharsharif is a much smaller in size than Muzaffarpur, both in terms of area and population.

The Government of India launched Smart Cities Mission (SCM) on 25th June 2015 for development of 100 cities across the country as ‘Smart Cities’. Cities were selected through four rounds of selection process between January 2016 and June 2018. Four cities from Bihar figure in the list of 100 selected cities.

As on 9 July 2021, these 100 cities have tendered out 6,017 projects worth Rs.1,80,873 crore; out of which work orders have been issued in 5,375 projects worth Rs.1,49,251 crore; out of these, 2,781 projects worth Rs.48,150 crore have been completed.

Smart cities is a centrally sponsored project. Thus the Government of India bears the larger portion of the cost. The Government of India has released Rs.23,925.83 crore as the Central share to the States/Union Territories (UTs) out of which Rs.20,410.14 crore (85 per cent) has been utilised by the Smart Cities, as per the data released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.