On Monday, the Union Ministry of Urban Affairs announced the selection of Jabalpur and Ujjain in the list of Cities 2.0. A total of Rs 250 crore will be spent on development works in these two cities with Rs 125 crore per city. In this regard, the Department of Urban Development and Housing presented a proposal before the Council of Ministers meeting chaired by Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav which was approved by the Cabinet. On this occasion, Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya expressed happiness over the selection of the cities. He said that the State Government is committed to the overall development of cities and the works sanctioned under this scheme in these two cities will be completed on time with utmost quality.

 

Notably, only 18 cities in the country have been selected under Cities 2.0 including Ujjain and Jabalpur. In both these cities, those works will be taken up on priority which will in turn, encourage private investment and employment opportunities. Earlier, Mahakal Rudra Sagar Integrated Development Project was launched in Ujjain Smart City Project under Cities 1.0 Programme by the Union Ministry of Urban Affairs. In this project, Rs 80 crore was approved as grant amount to Ujjain Smart City. Out of this, an amount of Rs 72 crore has been received as loan. Under the project, 9 works were launched. Of these, 6 works have been completed.

 

The other two works will be completed by June 2024 this year. Under Cities 2.0, such works are being carried out which can preserve the environment and promote investment in the selected city. Private participation is also being encouraged in these works. The approval for the same was given on the proposal presented by the Department of Urban Development and Housing. After approval, the loan along with interest for the sanctioned project in the 2 cities selected in the 2.0 cities will be returned by the Central Government and the State Government on the basis of 50:50 ratio.