The minister mentioned that 23 other smart cities had completed over 75 per cent of their projects. He also added that 714 projects, amounting to Rs 173.03 billion, are currently in the implementation stage. He further stated that as of November 15, 2024, work orders had been issued for 8,066 projects worth Rs 1.64 trillion, of which 7,352 projects, amounting to Rs 1.47 trillion (91 per cent of the total), had been completed.

Regarding the financial allocation for the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), the minister explained that the central government has a total outlay of Rs 480 billion for the 100 cities. As of November 15, 2024, the central government had released Rs 472.25 billion to states and Union territories under the SCM, of which Rs 446.26 billion (94 per cent) had been utilized.

The minister attributed the delay in project completion to various reasons, including legal issues, delays in obtaining clearances from different departments, land acquisition challenges, construction in hilly areas, and difficulties in vendor and resource availability in smaller cities.

On the progress of works under the SCM, Sahu reported that over 1,740 km of smart roads had been constructed or improved. Additionally, more than 9,433 smart classrooms had been developed across 2,398 government schools. He further mentioned that 41 digital libraries with a seating capacity of 4,809 had been developed, along with 172 e-health centres and clinics (without dedicated beds) and 152 health ATMs. Furthermore, more than 17,026 km of water supply systems were being monitored through the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which has helped reduce non-revenue water in cities.