Government to develop 8 new cities to meet urbanisation demand

The ministry of housing and urban affairs will soon come out with a detailed framework to execute the project.

Centre plans to develop eight new cities to meet the demand for urban expansion. The 15th Finance Commission, set up by the government, has recommended an outlay of ₹8,000 crore for developing eight new cities in eight states, a senior official of the ministry of housing and urban affairs said on Tuesday.

File photo: PM Narendra Modi. (MINT_PRINT)

The ministry of housing and urban affairs will soon come out with a detailed framework to execute the greenfield project. According to the ministry, ₹1,000 crore will be available for each city.

"We will create a system on how to develop these new cities... The government will work out the framework that may take six months or even a year... no new cities have come up for many years, the Finance Commission has granted ₹8,000 crore to incubate new cities," said Durga Shankar Mishra, housing ministry secretary.

Mishra said that a census town is an area with a population of more than 5,000 and a population density of over 400 per square kilometres, and wherein more than 75 per cent of the male population is engaged in non-agriculture work.

Census towns may be considered for the new project. However, there is no clarity yet as the project is in its initial stage, a source said.

"The country needs new cities... unless we get planned cities, there would then be outgrowth," he said. While the framework for developing the new cities will be worked out later, Mishra pointed out that there are such areas that exist just outside the jurisdiction of a city administration.