According to the Ministry, the cities have to generate funds by floating
tenders before April 30, 2017, to revise advertisement tax policy, cut
down non-revenue water and maximise property tax. 

Chennai and Coimbatore have been selected as smart cities in the first
round, while Vellore, Madurai, Salem and Thanjavur have been picked in
the second round in 2016-17. 

The four cities selected in the second round are yet to provide
information to MoUD on committed investments. It is learnt that a total
of Rs 10,977.50 crore-worth projects have been completed by other Indian
cities selected in the second round.

Sources said Vellore, Madurai and Thanjavur have invited tenders for
project management consultants to implement smart city projects.

The move has come in the wake of the ministry stating that it would
provide funds to appoint consultancy firms if tender is called before
April 30.

Similarly, among the cities chosen in the first round, Chennai and
Coimbatore lag behind in completing the projects. They, besides Bhopal
and Kochi, have completed less than one per cent of projects and find
themselves at the bottom of the ranking chart.

A total of Rs 23,387 crore-worth
projects have been carried out till date by the 20 cities selected in
the first round, according to MoUD.