Amaravati, Vizag bag awards at Smart Cities conference

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati and coastal city Visakhapatnam have won awards at the 3rd Apex Conference of the Smart Cities, which kicked off on Friday at the Andhra University Convention Center in Vizag.

The two cities got an award each under the ‘Recognition of Performance’ category at the 2-day event, while the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) was also given the ‘Innovative Idea Award’ for a 2-megawatt floating solar power plant on Mudasarlova reservoir in the city.

Surat has been adjudged the best smart city for the second consecutive year.

Since the 1st Apex Conference, the Mission has seen tremendous progress in the implementation of projects. The value of tendered smart city projects is over Rs 1,62,000 crore. Work orders of about 1,20,000 crore have been issued, while the value of all completed projects is more than Rs 25,000 crore.

Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, said that there has been a growth of 224 per cent in the number of projects tendered, 300 per cent in the projects grounded and 421 per cent in the number of projects completed.

In Vizag, the 2-MW floating solar project, which was set up for Rs 13.4 crore, has been saving power worth Rs 2.3 crore annually. According to GVMC officials, floating solar projects reduce the demand for land and make use of the unutilised surface area of the reservoir. The solar panels also stop water evaporation from the reservoir to some extent, they added.