Government mulling setting up eight new cities in country: Official

A plan to develop eight new cities to alleviate population burden on the existing urban centres in the country is under consideration, a senior official said here on Thursday. The 15th Finance Commission in one of its reports had recommended that new cities should be developed, said M B Singh, director of the G20 unit of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Department. Singh was speaking to PTI on the sidelines of a meeting of `Urban 20 (U20)' here.

“After the finance commission's recommendation, the states sent proposals to the Central Government for 26 new cities, and after a scrutiny, eight new cities are being considered for development,” he said.

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The government will in due course announce locations for the new cities and their development timelines, he added. “We have to build new cities in the country as the existing cities are not able to cater to the needs of citizens. Haphazard expansion on the outskirts of existing cities is affecting the basic planning of these cities,” Singh said. When a new city is developed, social and economic activities will increase within a radius of at least 200 km, he said.

Though the financial roadmap for setting up new cities has not been finalised, the Union government will play a major role in the project, he said.