New Delhi: The government is planning to set up 100 smart cities across the country that will provide all modern amenities, education and employment opportunities.Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the project of 100 smart cities is in conceptualise stage and details are being worked out through discussions with all stake-holders, including state governments.
“Opportunities of education, employment and entertainment are concentrated mostly in urban and semi-urban centres and these three factors are forcing more and more people to leave rural areas and migrate to towns and cities,” he said.
Naidu said Census of India has projected the urban population till 2026 and by that year, the country’s urban population which was 27.8 percent in 2001 is expected to increase to 38.2 percent.
The Minister said in terms of the total urban population, it is at 31.6 percent as per 2011 Census, while the World Urbanization Prospectus shows the level of urbanisation in 2011 in China 50.6 percent, in Indonesia 50.7 percent, in South Africa 62 percent and in Brazil 84.6 percent.
