The West Bengal government is planning to set up 10 smart cities in the state.
The government has identified 10 areas or townships and these will be further sent to the Centre to include in the smart cities list.
The areas or townships selected include New Town – Rajarhat (on the fringes of Kolkata), Durgapur, Bolpur, Kalyani, Baruipur, Gangasagar, Debanandapur, Raghunathpur, Phulbari and Jaigaon.
Work on documenting the smart city project has begun. Survey work is expected to start soon. The basic infrastructure for the smart city will be developed by the state government with a probable funding from the Centre, while housing and other requirements will be carried out by private developers.
Meanwhile, the exact modalities of the smart city – that include both amenities and financing facilities – are yet to be worked out.