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BACKGROUND:

Government of India (GoI) through Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched ‘Smart Cities Mission’ in the year 2015 with an objective to  promote  cities  that  provide  core infrastructure  and  give  a  decent  quality  of  life  to  its  citizens,  a  clean  and  sustainable  environment  and application of smart solutions. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities. The Smart Cities Mission is a bold, new initiative. It is meant to set examples that  can  be  replicated  both  within  and  outside  the  Smart  City,  catalyzing  the  creation  of similar  Smart Cities in various regions and parts of the country.

Accordingly, the purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of  life  of  people  by  enabling  local  area  development  and  harnessing  technology,  especially  technology that  leads  to  smart  outcomes.  Area-based development will transform existing areas (retrofit and redevelop), including slums, into better planned ones, thereby improving livability of the whole City. New areas (greenfield) will be developed around cities in order to accommodate the expanding population in urban areas. Application of Smart Solutions will enable cities to use technology, information and data to improve infrastructure and services. Comprehensive development in this way will improve quality of life, create employment and enhance incomes for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged, leading to inclusive Cities.

 

SMART CITY MISSION:

The Smart City Mission envisages  interventions  in  across  100  cities  in  the  country  over  a  period  of  5  years  i.e.  Mission Period 2015-2020.  Government  of  India  will  give  a  Grant  of  Rs  100  Crore  per  city  for  5  years.  Smart cities Selection is through competition after evaluation of the Smart City Proposals (SCP) prepared through Intense Citizen Consultation by the cities by a Panel of Experts put in place by MoHUA, GoI. The  strategic  components  of  Area-based  Development  (ABD)  in  the  Smart Cities  Mission  are  city  improvement  (retrofitting),  city  renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (Greenfield development) plus a Pan-city initiative  in  which  Smart  Solutions  are  applied  covering  larger  parts  of  the city. The Mission aims to development, design, build and operationalize smart and innovative solutions across core city infrastructures including:

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The core infrastructure elements in a Smart City would include:

• Adequate water supply,

• Assured electricity supply,

• Sanitation, including solid waste management,

• Efficient urban mobility and public transport,

• Affordable housing, especially for the poor,

• Robust IT connectivity and digitalization,

• Good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation,

• Sustainable environment,

• Safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and

• Health and education.

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To bridge the gap and provide a society in line with the vision of inclusive growth the smart city mission has been launched in India. The purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes. Bhagalpur Smart City as part of its vision to provide Good Governance to its citizens, initiated steps to harness the potential of IT to provide integrated services to the citizens by deploying the tools of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) so as to enhance Quality, Transparency, Convenience, Certainty and Accountability in providing such services.

 

FUNDING PATTERN:

The city of Bhagalpur has been selected among 100 potential Indian cities to be developed as smart cities under the Smart City Mission. It was selected in the 2nd round.  The Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation  has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called ‘Bhagalpur Smart City Limited’ (BSCL) as per mission guidelines for implementation of projects identified in the proposal.

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Implementing Agency: Bhagalpur Smart City Limited (BSCL) – Special Purpose Vehicle

Funding Agency: Government of India/Government of Bihar/Bhagalpur Nagar Nigam (BNN)/PPP/

 

Citizens of Bhagalpur have collectively envisioned a progressive city, dedicated towards promoting its unique identity, good governance, enhanced quality of life, sustainable utilization of its distinctive historical, cultural and ecological assets to attract tourism, investments and business.

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The entire project is divided into many sub-projects under two main category; ABD projects and Pan City Projects. The projects under ABD are limited within a specific area of the city and mostly include projects of retrofitting and re-development nature. Whereas PAN city projects are mostly based on use of ICT technology systems and solid waste management component.

 

STRUCTURE OF SPV:

The SPV for Bhagalpur Smart City will be a Government Company established under the Indian Companies Act 2013. The initial paid up capital will be Rs. 20 lakh with 50:50 contribution between the GoB and Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation. The ULB may subsequently use the GoI contribution under the Smart City Mission towards additional own equity with matching contribution from the State Government to ensure the minimum requirement of paid up capital with an option to enhance as per project requirement   . At all times, the State and ULB will be equal partners in the SPV and hold majority of shares. The SPV will function as follows:

1. The paid up capital will be used as contribution for procurement of capital assets and towards expenditure incurred for establishment of the SPV

2. Project implementation will depend mainly on the Tied Grant from GOI and matching grant from GoB/ULB and will not rely solely on equity of the SPV however, equity will be leveraged to raise through private placement/commercial borrowings/partnerships for implementation of projects as required

3. The grant from GoI and corresponding grant from the state will be ‘ring fenced’ for implementation of projects under the Smart Cities Mission

4. Each project will be commercially rated and implemented either through full funding of the SPV, or through PPP, turnkey contracts, etc.

5. The SPV will also raise funds through commercial borrowings if required

 

COMPOSITION OF SPV BOARD:

Being a Government Company, Board of Directors will be nominated by the Government in consultation with the ULB. The Board may seek advice from Line Departments as required for smooth implementation of projects.

 

The composition of the Board will be as follows:

  1. Divisional Commissioner will be the Chairperson of the Board

  2. Municipal Commissioner of Corporation will be the CEO

  3. The Chief Operating Officer will be a professional appointed from the market. S/he will have a degree in Urban Planning/Public Administration with at least 15 years of post-qualification relevant experience

  4. One nominee of Mayor, BMC

  5. Representative of MoUD

  6. Representative of Urban Development and Housing Department, GoB

  7. Representative of Finance Department, GoB

  8. Managing Director, Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCo)

  9. Managing Director, Bihar Rajya Jal Parishad (BRJP)

  10. District Collector as Director

  11. 2 Independent Directors

 

ROLE OF SPV:

The key functions of the SPV will be

  1. Approve and sanction projects;

  2. Act as a ‘fund manager’ and implement the SCP;

  3. Resource Mobilization;

  4. Ensure timely project completion;

  5. Regular monitoring and review of projects;

  6. Enter into contracts, partnerships and service delivery arrangements;

  7. Collect user charges/fees, as authorized by the ULB;

  8. O&M of assets till handing over to ULB.

 

The SPV will be operationally and functionally autonomous for the purpose of SCP  implementation. The SPV will derive their functional and operational powers from BMC and GoB separately and directly through relevant Executive Order(s) and will operate within the over-reaching legal provisions under the Bihar Municipal Act 2007, which enables the BMC to delegate their powers in an accountable manner.

 

STAKEHOLDER ORGANOGRAM:

  1. MPs, MLAs, MLCs

  2. Mayors, Councilors, other elected representatives.

  3. Divisional Commissioner

  4. Collector

  5. Municipal Commissioner

  6. Chief Executive of the Urban Development Authority / Parastatal

  7. Consultant (Select from empanelled list)

  8. Handholding Organisation (Select from following list: World Bank, ADB, JICA, USTDA, AFD, KfW, DFID, UN Habitat, UNIDO, Other)

  9. Vendors, PPP Partners, Financiers

  10. Others, (eg. Community representatives) as appropriate to your city

 

FINANCIAL PLAN:

The development of bankable proposals will be a key success factor in the Smart City Mission. In order to arrange appropriate amounts and types of funding and financing for Bhagalpur SCP, SPV must keep financial considerations always in mind while preparing your strategy and the PAN City and Area Based Development proposal. It is anticipated that innovative means of funding and financing the projects will be necessary.  For this purpose, you must evaluate the capacity of the ULB and the SPV to undertake self-funded development projects, the availability of funds from other government schemes that will converge in your SCP and the finance that can be raised from the financial market.

 

ITEMISED COSTS:

Total cost of Bhagalpur Smart City Proposal is Rs. 1309.3 crores. Area based development costs would be Rs. 1106.7 crores while Pan City initiatives is Rs. 202.6 crores. Area based development and Pan City initiative breakdown are given below:

 

Area Based Development - Components Cost:

  1.  E-Governance, M-Governance - Rs. 18 crore

  2. River Front Development - Rs. 107.5 crore

  3. Conservation of Built & Cultural Heritage - Rs. 21.1 crore

  4. Market Development & Skill Training - Rs. 123 crore

  5. Rejuvenation of existing Large open spaces with added activities - Rs. 25.20 crore

  6. Recreation& Entertainment - Rs. 12.60 crore

  7. Multimodal Intelligent Public Transport system - Rs. 31.84 crore

  8. Improve vehicular movement and decongestion of roads - Rs. 138.50 crore

  9. Encourage NMT and pedestrian safety - Rs. 25.10 crore

  10. 24X7 water supply - Rs. 45.55 crore

  11. Development of UG sewerage system with SBR-STP - Rs. 119.41 crore

  12. Development of UG Storm water drains - Rs. 52.56 crore

  13. SWM system - Rs. 17.81 crore

  14. Robust Power Infrastructure - Rs. 114.26 crore

  15. Robust IT Infrastructure - Rs. 54.60 crore

  16. Energy Efficiency, Pollution Control - Rs. 24.27 crore

  17. Urban Poor and Slums - Rs. 51.50 crore

 

Pan City Initiatives - Components Cost:

  1. ITS - Command and Control Center - Rs. 31.4 crore

  2. ITS - Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) - Rs. 65.8 crore

  3. ITS - iBus Bhagalpur - Rs. 43 crore

  4. ISWM - Rs. 44.05 crore

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