Surat shines at 'Smart Cities' meet

SURAT: The Diamond City shined brightly in the 'Smart Cities Smart Urbanization' conference by bagging the highest number of awards.

At the two-day conference that began in the city on Monday, Indore won awards in six categories while Surat received five awards. Both cities shared the 'Best City' award while Uttar Pradesh bagged the Best State recognition.

Hardeep Singh Puri, union minister of housing and urban affairs was the chief guest at the event while Bhupendra Patel, chief minister of

Gujarat

addressed the gathering through a video link.

Surat bagged honours in projects, conservation through treated waste water, integrated and sustainable water supply system, sustainable business model through dynamic bus scheduling and overall project implementation.

Winners of India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020 were felicitated at the event. These awards were earlier announced through a virtual conference in 2021, however, the distribution ceremony was deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We have already sanctioned development of 1.15 crore homes of which 60 lakh houses have been alloted. The government will deliver what it promises," said Puri.

"The 100 smart cities were not decided by the central government and based on the projects and citizen consultation these were selected. We can complete the

Smart City Mission

in 2023," Puri added.

Describing the Diamond City as a leader in smart city project implementation, Puri said its achievements will be written in history with golden letters. "Cities like Surat can inspire other cities to develop on its lines. Surat is always leading other cities in awards, "he said.