Launching the much awaited three urban initiatives- smart city mission, Amrut and Affordable Housing for all, Mr. Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India called upon the attending representatives of around 500 cities across the country to take upon themselves to decide the pace and direction of the city's development. Smart City, as per the Hon'ble PM, is the one which goes beyond than catering to the basic needs of its citizens. He drew special attention to the plight of millions who have to migrate to cities in search of livelihood, a phenomenon that is going to accentuate in future. Welcoming the launch of crucial initiative, Mr Sumit Mazumder, President, CII said that "Industry is very optimistic and sincerely hopes that isolated successful urban initiatives across the country would now be scaled up to the national level through these dedicated missions and innovative solutions like providing interest subvention up to 6.5% on loans to EWS for affordable housing". In his address, Mr. M Venkaiah Naidu, Hon'ble Union Minister for Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation called for inclusive urban development for all those on the fringes of urban landscape. A key socio economic intervention, he said, would be granting first right to urban dwellings to women. In his remarks,  Mr. Mazumder said that "the bottoms up  approach of these proposed missions and the objective & equitable framework for allocating funds to States and Urban Local Bodies, especially the 50,000 crores central grant over 5 years would go a long way in building the much desired inclusive and robust framework for delivery of smart   solutions", Mr Mazumder said.  

25th June 2015 
New Delhi